Commercial Sorghum - Origin

Origin

The last wild relatives of commercial sorghum are currently confined to Africa south of the Sahara — although Zohary and Hopf add "perhaps" Yemen and Sudan — indicating its domestication took place there. However, note Zohary and Hopf, "the archaeological exploration of sub-Saharan Africa is yet in its early stages, and we still lack critical information for determining where and when sorghum could have been taken into cultivation." Although rich finds of S. bicolor have been recovered from Qasr Ibrim in Egyptian Nubia, the wild examples have been dated to circa 800–600 BCE, and the domesticated ones no earlier than CE 100. The earliest archeological evidence comes from sites dated to the second millennium BC in India and Pakistan — where S. bicolor is not native. These incongruous finds have been interpreted, according again to Zohary and Hopf,

as indicating: (i) an even earlier domestication in Africa, and (ii) an early migration of domestic sorghum, from East Africa into the Indian subcontinent. This interpretation got further support because several other African grain crops, namely: pearl millet Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br., cow pea Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., and hyacinth bean Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet show similar patterns. Their wild progenitors are restricted to Africa.

Most cultivated varieties of sorghum can be traced back to Africa, where they grow on savanna lands. During the Muslim Agricultural Revolution, sorghum was planted extensively in parts of the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. The name "sorghum" comes from Italian "sorgo", in turn from Latin "Syricum (granum)" meaning "grain of Syria".

Despite the antiquity of sorghum, it arrived late to the Near East. It was unknown in the Mediterranean area into Roman times. Tenth century records indicate it was widely grown in Iraq, and became the principal food of Kirman in Persia. In addition to the eastern parts of the Muslim world, the crop was also grown in Egypt and later in Islamic Spain. From Islamic Spain, it was introduced to Christian Spain and then France (by the 12th century). In the Muslim world, sorghum was grown usually in areas where the soil was poor or the weather too hot and dry to grow other crops.

Sorghum is well adapted to growth in hot, arid or semiarid areas. The many subspecies are divided into four groups — grain sorghums (such as milo), grass sorghums (for pasture and hay), sweet sorghums (formerly called "Guinea corn", used to produce sorghum syrups), and broom corn (for brooms and brushes). The name "sweet sorghum" is used to identify varieties of S. bicolor that are sweet and juicy.