New Delhi, Dec. 20 -- Sweet sorghum (SS) [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] crop was introduced in India by Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), in Phaltan, Maharashtra in the early 1970s. Today, sweet sorghum is an important crop in ethanol ecosystem in India and the world and as a subset of millets - a useful food crop. We thought of telling the story of how the whole thing started in India.

NARI has worked on all aspects of sweet sorghum which include:

Breeding high yielding varieties.

Fermentation studies and solar distillation of ethanol.

Development of lanterns and stoves running on low grade ethanol.

Development of high-quality syrup and complete technology for producing it.

The work in early phases (from 1970s to 80s) ...