Due to the high biomass yields of certain types of sorghum, and relatively low input requirements, it has been identified as a potential energy crop by the U.S. Departments of Energy and Agriculture.
Ceres is developing high-biomass sorghum varieties specifically for use as a feedstock for cellulosic biofuels. Other types of sorghum cannot provide the same volume of fuels since they have been selected to maximize grain yields, and not total biomass.
Highly researched and well-understood, sorghum is a domesticated species. However, as a minor crop in the U.S., it has not fully benefited from breakthroughs in modern plant breeding and biotechnology. Therefore, rapid improvements can be made.
We plan to commercialize sorghum hybrids that offer increased biomass, broader adaptability to cooler climates, greater drought tolerance and other agronomic and compositional improvements.
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Sorghum is a diverse family of cereal grasses widely planted in Africa, Central America, and South Asia. In the United States, sorghum has been used primarily as an animal feed.
Top photo courtesy of Texas Agricultural Experiment Station