Sorghum
The origin and early domestication of sorghum are hypothesised to have taken place more than 8,000 years ago in north-eastern Africa. The secondary centre of origin of sorghum is the Indian Subcontinent. Sorghum is the fifth most important cereal crop by area after wheat, rice, maize and barley in the world. It is grown mainly in Asia. Food made from sorghum includes unfermented and fermented bread, porridges, couscous, boiled rice-resembling foods, snacks, as well as alcoholic beverages. Sorghum syrup is extracted from the plant by crushing the stalk. The syrup is produced and used by the food industry as a substitute for sugar. Recent research has evaluated sorghum as a feed stock for production of ethanol. The grain from sorghum can be used as feed for poultry and livestock.

Thai sorghum
In Thailand, there are four types of sorghum used: grain sorghum, sweet sorghum, grass sorghum and broom corn. The great advantage of this sorghum is that they can become dormant under adverse conditions and can resume growth after relatively severe drought. Thailand ranks 44th in the world for sorghum production.