HOPE leads to increased sorghum yields

Some 25,000 farmers in the dryland areas known as the ‘Sorghum Bowl of India’, located in the country’s western state of Maharashtra, are enjoying substantial crop yield increases, thanks to a project led by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). Initial assessments show that access to improved sorghum varieties and crop management practices, along with improved market linkages, have seen average grain yields rise by 40 per cent and fodder yields by 20 per cent since 2010.

Consequently, the farmers, half of whom operate on landholdings of two hectares or less, have increased their net income by 50 per cent, which translates to an average of US$78 per hectare of sorghum grown.

The ‘Harnessing Opportunities for Productivity Enhancement of Sorghum and Millets in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia’ (HOPE) project is led by ICRISAT in close partnership with several Indian state and national institutions on sorghum (Marathwada State Agricultural University, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth State Agricultural University [MPKV] and the National Directorate of Sorghum Research). HOPE focuses on six target areas in the Sorghum Bowl, about 33 per cent of which now grow improved varieties, as opposed 10 per cent before the project began.

Dr. T. A. More, Vice-Chancellor of MPKV, has praised the results to date and stressed the need for a Green Revolution through major improvements like these in rainfed crops.

Indian institutions developed the new sorghum varieties by improving the traditional ‘Maldandi’ varieties cultivated in this area. The new varieties are well adapted to the cold temperatures and shorter days of the winter months, and are tolerant or resistant to drought and to the pests and diseases prevalent during this season. Other high-yielding varieties are under development, while work continues on hybrid varieties that are expected to raise yields by another 20-30 per cent.

As Dr. William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, explains, “Our international role is to encourage South-South sharing of promising technologies such as the durra sorghums of Africa and the hybrid sorghum technology of India. The benefits flow both ways.”

India’s National Food Security Mission recently announced that it intends to buy and distribute sorghum to India’s poor, thereby expanding market opportunities for farmers. To better access grain markets, ICRISAT-HOPE is also helping farmers improve the cleaning, grading and packing of grain, and connecting them to current information on market prices and demand volumes.