Possibility of sorghum cultivation in Poland and utilisation strategies for sorghum grains and green matter

Abstract

This review presents a recent review of knowledge on the possibilities of sorghum cultivation in Poland including the strategies for its utilisation. Sorghum is the fifth cereal in the world in terms of production scale. This position stems from high tolerance of this plant to water shortages and, at the same time, relatively good yields. Therefore, the main sorghum growing re- gions are concentrated in Africa and Asia. In Europe, due to the sufficient supply of consumer and fodder grains of the main cere- als (wheat, triticale, rye, oats, and barley), there has been a lack of interest from growers in sorghum cultivation. The plant also has high temperature requirements during the emergence period and requires a long growing season, hence food products from sorghum came from imported grains. Although in Poland the plant still has a small cultivated area, there are visible attempts by growers to cultivate sorghum. The grains can be used more widely in human nutrition, especially for people with gluten in- tolerance. It is used in livestock feed production. It can be used in the production of bioethanol. In addition to grain production, sorghum can also be grown for green matter, which has applica- tions in ruminant nutrition (cattle, sheep and goats) and biogas production. The aim of this study is to analyse the potential of sorghum cultivation in Poland and the possible directions of cul- tivation (for grain and green matter) and use (for human food, animal feed and energy purposes). The analysis of the world and Polish literature in the field of sorghum cultivation shows that this species can be cultivated and widely used in Poland. However, it is necessary to popularize the nutritional value and food use of grain in order to build a market. The forage use of both grain and green sorghum mass should also be popularized. The possibility of cultivating sorghum for energy purposes is also a future trend.