Sorghum

Sorghum
The genus of Sorghum is found in warm, dry climates, especially in Africa, India, Pakistan, China and the Southern USA where its members are grown as important grain or forage crops. Because sorghums have been in cultivation for a long time and because interspecific hybrids are easily formed, the taxonomy of the genus is somewhat confused. Until recently the cultivated types were loosely grouped together in the species Sorghum vulgare, but a thorough revision of taxonomic relationships suggests that Sorghum bicolor is the species to which the grain crops should belong.

The seed of grain sorghum or dura as it is often called, contains no gluten, and hence is by itself not suitable for bread making. Normally for human consumption the grain is group into flour, mixed with water or fat and cooked to form a porridge or batter. Alternatively, the grain is fed to pigs or poultry, its starch may be used for a variety of purposes such as an adhesive or for sizing or it may be fermented to produce alcohol. Sorghum are also grown as forage crops and may produce high yields of the order of 30,000 kg/ha from several cuts throughout the year.

Best resulted are obtained from special forage types such as sorgo, sweet or sugar sorghum which is variously described as a variety of sorghum or as a separate species (Sorghum saccharatum). Sudan grass (S. Sudanese), a tall and tufted tropical grass, is often used top produce hybrids with sorghum, as for example the production forage plants Sudax or Sordan.

One possible problem with these forages is that contained in the leaves there may be a cyanogenic glycoside, dhurrin, which when eaten by animals hydrolyses to form poisonous hydrogen cyanide. In ruminants, hydrogen cyanide is rapidly detoxified in the rumen and liver by reaction with sulphide or cystine, but the danger of toxicity remains of glycoside levels are high or sulphur intake is low. The problem can be avoided by the choice of safe cultivars by not allowing stock to graze very immature growth, or by feeding as hay or silage.
Sorghum

Raspberry

Raspberry
The red raspberry was first cultivated about 400 years ago on European soil. Cultivation spread to England and the United States, where the native American raspberry was already well known.

In 1845, Dr. Brinkle of Philadelphia became the first successful producer of raspberry in United States and he originated many varieties. By 1870, this berry had become an important crop in the United States.

The red raspberry is native to the northern United States, and the black raspberry is found in the South. The purple raspberry is a hybrid between the red and the black, and did not become important until about 1900.

The raspberry has a wide range of color. A yellow raspberry is found growing wild in many areas, particularly in Maryland. The Asiatic species of raspberry has a color that ranges though red, orange, yellow, lavender, purple, wine, to black. Even white berries have been found in Alabama and Oregon, and lavender ones in North Carolina. In the West the wild black raspberry is often not quite black, but rather a deep wine in color.

The market berry is usually the cultivated berry and is not red and black. There are many varieties of each that are popular. The market supply runs from mid April through July, and the peak month is July.

A quality berry is plump, with a clean, fresh appearance, a solid, full color, and is usually without adhering caps. Berries with caps attached may be immature. Overripe berries are usually dull in color, soft, and sometime leaky.
Raspberry

Small Millets

Small Millets
Small millets are small grained cereals mainly grown in arid, semi arid or montane zones as rain fed crops under marginal and sub-marginal conditions of soil fertility and moisture. Small millets are important to global agriculture and are a major cereal crops, grown in fairly large areas of South Asia, China, the former USSR and Africa. They are also found in areas of the United States and Europe on a limited scale.

Finger millet is the principal small millet species grown in South Asia, followed by kodo millet, foxtail millet, little millet, proso millet and barnyard millet, in that order. Foxtail millet and pros millet are important in China and the latter is grown extensively in southwestern USSR. In Africa, finger millet, teff and fonio have local importance.

The average global productivity of small millets is almost 1 t/ha. There has been a trend in the last two decades to replace these crops with major cereal like maize and wheat, which has been a factor in the reduction of area under these crops. Presently, small millets are cultivated in areas where they produce a more dependable harvest than other crop, this has been largely responsible for their continued presence and cultivation in many parts of the world there is now an increasing realization of this fact and a greater awareness that these crops merit more research and development.
Small Millets