Agriculture and Environment: Sorghum

Introduction

There are a number of strategies by which sorghum farmers can reduce the environmental impacts of production. Several are similar to those that have been discussed for other crops, including building the soil, reducing pesticide use, treating effluent, and developing systems of carbon payments.

It is possible both to reduce the impacts of sorghum cultivation on the environment and to benefit producers financially, but it requires good planning and proper execution.

In general, the adoption of better practices can reduce the impact of sorghum production by maintaining productivity on existing lands indefinitely and reducing runoff and pollution. Several different, complementary practices can help to reduce the impacts.