Sorghum Research

The United Sorghum Checkoff Program has rolled up its sleeves and gone to work for sorghum growers. USCP began collecting checkoff dollars in July 2008 and is already using them to fund research for boosting producer profits and making sorghum a healthier industry.

Regional Production Guides
A wealth of proper management practices, already proven in test plots and fields, could bring higher yields and more net profit if used by farmers. The Checkoff has contracted with scientists to compile this information into easy-to-use Production Guides for 10 specific growing regions. Expect these before planting in 2010.

Making the Most of Fertility
Kansas State University scientists are working to better understand how to most efficiently use nitrogen in sorghum.

New Herbicide Options
Kansas State University scientists are developing best management practices for new over-top herbicides that you can put to work in you field, while Texas AgriLife is evaluating other new herbicides that have the potential to effectively fight weeds in sorghum.

Cold Tolerance
USCP is funding research by USDA-ARS (United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service), universities and private industry that will help you plant earlier, into cooler soils, and take advantage of longer season hybrids. These agencies and companies will use screening methods and genomic tools to move cold tolerance into useful hybrid combinations.

Forage Sorghums for Better Ethanol Production
Forage sorghums are already known to be high quality, high tonnage biomass feedstocks for renewable fuels. Texas A&M University and the National Renewable Energy Lab at Golden, Colorado are working to provide basic, critical information to make them even more ideal.

Better Standability
USDA-ARS and private industry are exploring new and novel genes for use in sorghums in the U.S. By bringing new germplasm to producers’ fields, scientists plan to increase average yields and also build resistance to disease, insects and other pests. These researchers are working to convert tropical sorghums, whose flowering isn’t controlled by daylength, into varieties that are daylength-sensitive and can grow well in the United States.

8000 Year Old Sorghum in Egypt

Articles About 8000-Year-Old Sorghum Found in Africa

Dahlberg and Wasylikowa 1996

Wasylikowa et al 1993

Wendorf et al 1998

References for Nabta Playa:

Dahlberg, J. A. and K. Wasylikowa. 1996. Image and statistical analyses of early sorghum remains (8000 B. P.) from the Nabta Playa archaeological site in the Western Desert, southern Egypt. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 5:293-299.

Wasylikowa, K. and J. A. Dahlberg. Accepted 15 Sep 1998. Sorghum in the economy of the Early Neolithic nomadic tribes at site E-75-6, Nabta Playa, south Egypt. In M. Van der Veen (ed.) The exploitation of plant resources in ancient Africa. Plenum Publ. Corp., New York, NY.

Wasylikowa, K., H. N. Barakat, L. Boulos, A. Butler, J. A. Dahlberg, J. Hather, and J. Mitka. 2001. Site E-75-6: Vegetation and subsistence of the Early Neolithic at Nabta Playa, Egypt, reconstructed from charred plant remains. pp. 544-591. In F. Wendorf and R. Schild (eds.) Holocene settlement of the Egyptain Sahara: Volume 1‑The archaeology of Nabta Playa. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publ., New York, NY.

Wendorf, F., R. Schild, K. Wasylikowa, J. Dahlberg, J. Evans, and E. Biehl. 1998. The use of plants during the early Holocene in the Egyptian Sahara: Early Neolithic food-economies. pp. 71-78. In Before food production in North Africa, S. di Lernia and G. Manzi (eds.). A.B.A.C.O. Edizioni, Forli, Italy.
 

For more information on research, contact:
Dr. Jeff Dahlberg, Research Director
E-mail: jeff@sorghumcheckoff.com