Sorghum is an important food cereal in many parts of worldwide. According to the U. S. National Sorghum Producers Association (2006), approximately 50% of the world production of sorghum grain is used as human food. Sorghum grain is a staple diet in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Central America where its processed grain may be consumed in many forms including porridge, steam-cooked product, tortillas, baked goods, or as a beverage (CGIAR, 2009). China and India account for almost all of the food use of sorghum in Asia, in other parts of the world, sorghum grain is used mainly as an animal feed. It has the distinct advantage (compared to other major cereals) of being drought-resistant and many subsistence farmers in these regions cultivate sorghum as a staple food crop for consumption at home (Murty and Kumar, 1995). Therefore sorghum acts as a principal source of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals for millions of the poorest people living in these regions (Klopfenstein and Hoseney, 1995). The improvement of sorghum nutrient availability is critical for food security. Cereal scientists and sorghum food processors are thus faced with the challenge of identifying the factors that adversely affect, and developing processing procedures that improve sorghum protein digestibility. Most parts of the sorghum plant are used as animal feed. Growing sorghum may be grazed, or the aerial parts of the plant may be ensiled or dried and fed as stover or silage for ruminant animals. Whole sorghum grain is cracked, ground, or steam flaked and fed to poultry, swine, dairy and beef cattle as a source of energy. Crop residues are a major animal feed resource in many crop-livestock farming systems. They are very useful in ameliorating the problem of inadequacy of feeds for ruminant livestock during the dry season. Although useful as dry season feeds, crop residues, particularly those of cereal origin, are low in protein and energy content (Agyemang et al., 1998). The stover of sorghum also is used as fodder for animals. The nutrient composition of sorghum grain is presented in Table 8.

Table 8. Proximate analysis of S. bicolor grain (dry matter basis) (Quotation from OECD, 2010)