Energy Sorghum

Ethanol Producer Magazine
By Holly Jessen November 15, 2011

Researchers develop high-biomass sorghum that bypasses flowering

What happens when sorghum doesn’t have to put energy into flowering and grain production? High-biomass sorghum that grows up to 20 feet tall, that’s what.

Texas AgriLife Research, part of the Texas A&M University System, is the home of hybrid sorghum, says Adam Helms, assistant program director. Researchers there recently identified a genetic marker to help develop high-biomass sorghum by prohibiting reproduction, or the flowering/grain stage, allowing that energy to go toward biomass accumulation. “This annually planted feedstock would add another tool to the toolbox for the producer,” he tells EPM. “When cellulosic ethanol conversion facilities become widespread, this feedstock would allow a producer to produce a grain, fiber or high-biomass crop.”

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