Sweet Sorghum for Biofuel and Strategies for its Improvement

Abstract

Self-sufficiency in energy requirements is critical to the success of any
\nemerging economy. Renewable sources of energy are considered to be one of the major
\npillars of energy security that reduces dependence on fossil fuels besides negating the
\nnegative effects on the environment. Sweet stalked sorghums, popularly referred to as
\nsweet sorghums, are multipurpose crop plants that provide food, fodder, feed, fiber and
\nfuel at affordable prices to the rural poor, grows well in areas receiving more than 700 mm
\nannual rainfall and located between 40o south and north of the equator. Popularization
\nof this crop in semi-arid tropic (SAT) areas will bring smallholder and marginal farmers,
\nbesides rural poor, into the biofuel revolution as it enhances socio-economic returns on
\ntheir holdings. In addition to providing a comprehensive latest global bioethanol scenario,
\nClean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of biofuels, this
\ninformation bulletin makes an attempt to describe and discuss the different issues impeding
\nthe productivity of sweet sorghum, conventional and molecular methodologies/tools to
\nenhance sugar yield without hampering grain yield. This bulletin also gives a bird’s eye view
\nof the development of high biomass low lignin sorghums amenable for second generation
\nethanol production and different value chain linkage models with an emphasis on sweet
\nsorghum improvement programs at ICRISAT and elsewhere.