Reprinted from Report, Vol. 2, No. 3, Autumn, 1959. Extension Circular 477
the new look in Sorghum

by R. C. Pickett, Agronomy Department
and E. E. Fredericks, Agricultural Information
SELECT SORGHUM HEADS in the breeding nursery are hand harvested by research agronomist
R. C. Pickett. Seed from these plants will be grown in Purdue's experimental nursery in Florida this winter. By taking advantage of the winter growing season, agronomists can collect data from
two crops in one year.
gRAIN SORGHUM has been  treated like a “poor relation” for many years by farmers and agronomists alike. Breeders and growers have not given sorghum the combined advantages of good land, good climatic conditions, superior hybrids, optimum management and high fertility. Its primary use has been in the Great Plains because it will grow well under drier conditions than corn.
Sorghum is a native of tropical Africa and has been in ancient cultivation throughout Africa and southern Asia. Since its introduction into the United States in the mid 1800’s, sorghum used for grain production has been relegated to dry, less productive areas. As a forage crop, however, forage sorghum and Sudangrass have been widely accepted throughout this country.
In 1956, Purdue agronomists became interested in sorghum, both grain and forage. Like everyone else, their primary interest in grain sorghum was as a crop for less productive areas of the state. Their immediate objective was a grain crop that could be grown on the rolling land and sandy areas of Indiana.
Until just a few years ago grain sorghums were self pollinated varieties and relatively low yielding. However, by 1956. when Purdue researchers began their studies, single cross dwarf hybrids became available for test for the first time. Not only did these hybrids produce larger heads and seeds, they were also easier to establish and the seedlings were more vigorous.
Initially the researchers handled sorghum much the same as it is handled in the Plains, planting at populations up to 60,000 or 80,000 plants per acre. Yields "were good but certainly not outstanding. However, they ob-