HOW: SORGHUM IS BETTER THAN MAIZE.
Sorghum is proving to be a better than maize for arid areas because of its hardiness and ability to tolerate low moisture, flooding and soil infertility.
Though the yield of maize surpasses that of sorghum when both plants are planted in a high potential area, sorghum has proven to be a food security crop for arid areas.
Maize is more palatable than sorghum, some species of sorghum have been known to contain considerable levels of tannins, which have an undesirable taste to humans.
This property is beneficial because the crop is less preferred less by Quelea birds that have been known to eat thousands of hectares of wheat, barley and rice crops in Africa.
A study conducted by Manuel et al, titled “The Behavior of Corn and Sorghum under Water Stress and during Recovery” yielded interesting results.
The purpose of the study was “to learn the behavior of stomata and the changes in leaf water potential and saturation deficit when corn and sorghum plants were subjected to water stress and then re watered.”
It was observed, 40 days after sowing the sorghum and maize seeds in a controlled environment maize plants grew larger than sorghum.
It was noted; maize suffered from water stress sooner after watering was discontinued compared to sorghum.
The reason for this was, corn loses a larger fraction of water content from its cells at various soil moisture levels compared to sorghum.
Upon further examination, it was observed that the cells of corn have a greater cell wall elasticity resulting in the loss of more water per unit decrease in soil moisture compared to sorghum making it more vulnerable of the two.
Varieties of maize and sorghum in Kenya
In Kenya, there are 164 varieties of certified maize seed; with a proven yield potential ranging from 4 to 15 tons, on the other hand, there are 18 sorghum varieties
The first maize variety registered in Kenya was H 632 that was bred by the Kenya seed company in 1964;its yield potential ranged from 8-10 tons per hectare.
The earliest sorghum variety registered in Kenya was ‘Serendo’ that was released in 1970 by Kenya agricultural institute in collaboration with the Kenya seed company.
Its proven yield potential was 2.5 tons; among the registered sorghum varieties, the best yields four 4 tons in one hectare.
From the above data, it can be noted that there has been significant investment in Maize research compared to sorghum because of the many registered varieties.
The ‘Gaddam’ variety of sorghum is the most notable variety as multinational companies like Kenya breweries are using produce beer.
Farmers in dry areas now have a lifeline…they now have a market for their produce as the multinationals are ready to buy it.
In conclusion, sorghum is better than maize when grown in dry areas and vice versa!