SEVA NAYAK DHEERAVATHU* AND THULSI BAI VADITHE
Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad-500 030 (Telangana), India
*(email: sevanayak@millets.res.in)
(Received : 2 June 2024; Accepted : 22 June 2024)
SUMMARY
As global population continues to increase, crop yield must increase proportionally to meet the demand for food and nutritional security. Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration is increasing rapidly and is expected to surpass 550 ppm soon. Mean annual temperature has significantly increased by 0.4°C over the last one hundred years. Global warming is expected to affect plant growth and soil ecosystems. Sorghum is a major staple food of millions of people in arid and semiarid regions of the world. It has the cheapest source of nutrition and energy. The area under grain sorghum cultivation has drastically declined from 18.5 m ha to 4.48 m ha from 1970 to 2020. Kharif sorghum cultivation is decreasing rapidly due to poor grain quality than rabi sorghum. Sorghum is considered to be climate resilient. Late rabi sorghum cultivation in rice-fallows is an ideal strategy for food, fodder, nutritional security, and livestock sustainability under changing climate scenario.
Key words: Climate change, rice-fallows, late rabi sorghum