Sorghum,Sorghum bicolor(L.) Moench

In India, the rainy-season sorghum grain is used mainly as animal/poultry feed, while the post-rainy-season sorghum grain is used primarily for human consumption. The major organisations/countries which maintain sorghum genetic resources are the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), India, the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) in United States, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Africa, India and China, primarily because of the large crop improvement programmes. The yield and yield stability of sorghum are constrained by a diverse array of insect pests, which vary according to the location of cultivation. The identification of geographic functional regions with a set of constraints has resulted in the gradual shift in breeding strategy from initial wide adaptability to specific adaptations, and to trait-based breeding for threshold traits through the 1980s and 1990s. The major objectives of sorghum improvement research in China include, such as grain yield, multiple resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses, and grain quality.