A number of driving forces, including the soaring global crude oil
prices and environmental concerns in both developed and developing
nations has triggered a renewed interest in the recent years on the R&D
of biofuel crops. In this regard, many countries across the globe are
investing heavily in the bioenergy sector for R&D to increase their
energy security and reduce their dependence on imported fossil fuels.
Currently, most of the biofuel requirement is met by sugarcane in Brazil
and corn in the United States, while biodiesel from rapeseed oil in
Europe. Sweet sorghum has been identified as a unique biofuel feedstock
in India since it is well adapted to Indian agro-climatic conditions and
more importantly it does not jeopardize food security at the cost of
fuel. Sweet sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is considered as a
SMART new generation energy crop as it can accumulate sugars in its
stalks similar to sugarcane, but without food¬¬-fuel trade-offs and can
be cultivated in almost all temperate and tropical climatic conditions
and has many other advantages. The grain can be harvested from the
panicles at maturity. There is no single publication detailing the
agronomic and biochemical traits of tropical sweet sorghum cultivars and
hybrid parents. Hence, an attempt is made in this publication-
"Characterization of improved sweet sorghum cultivars" to detail the
complete description of cultivars. This book serves as a ready reference
on the detailed characterization of different improved sweet sorghum
genotypes following the PPVFRA guidelines for the researchers,
entrepreneurs, farmers and other stakeholders to identify the available
sweet sorghum cultivars and understand their yield potential in tropics.
