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Konya…
In Türkiye’s largest agricultural province of Konya, the sorghum plant, adapted to the region through breeding efforts, is attracting attention with its high yield and nutritional value despite limited water consumption.
As part of the breeding efforts carried out since 2019 at the Bahri Dağdaş International Agricultural Research Institute, the plant seed is planned to be registered and made available to farmers within a few years.
Erdal Gönülal, a certified agricultural engineer in the Institute’s Meadow, Pasture, and Forage Crops Unit, told an Anadolu Agency (AA) reporter that sorghum is the third most widely planted warm-season grain in the world, after maize and rice.
Gönülal noted that maize is the primary silage source for cattle farming and added that they have seen the severe effects of climate change in recent years.
Emphasizing that they are working to integrate sorghum into the region as an alternative to maize, he said, “This plant has many characteristics. It is drought tolerant, can be harvested multiple times and can produce tillers. For example, if you don’t water maize for 15 days, it becomes stressed and stops growing. Sorghum, on the other hand, continues to grow.”
