Overview

Sorghum ID: towards a European inter-branch organisation for sorghum

Sorghum stakeholders unanimously support the promotion of the interests of sorghum and its hybrid genetics for several uses (grain sorghum for food and feed, silage sorghum, sorghum for energy and other non-food uses). In order to meet this demand, a European inter-branch sorghum organisation will soon be created.

Sorghum ID (Sorghum – International Development) is the name of this association, whose constitutive assembly was held on 26 September 2017 in Brussels in the Copa-Cogeca building, and whose headquarters are also located in Brussels.

This Assembly brought together various organisations and companies along the sorghum value chain from many European countries (the European Union as well as eastern Europe) in order to develop European production of sorghum (grain – silage – energy) and its hybrid genetics with an action plan based on:

  • Representing and promoting the interests of sorghum vis-à-vis national and European institutions, consistently with the other main crops;
  • Implementing promotion actions that demonstrate the technical and economic assets of sorghum in terms of production;
  • Promoting the potential uses and outlets of sorghum for human food, animal feed and non-food outlets;
  • Bringing together and mobilising potential stakeholders to build synergies and gather momentum in the long term.

After all the participants approved the objectives and statutes of the new association during the 26 September Assembly, several representatives of European political and professional stakeholders, including the European Commission, declared their support for the project and the actions being implemented. Be it Michel Dantin from the European Parliament, Pierre Bascou from the Directorate-General for Agriculture, Max Schulman from Copa-Cogeca, Daniel Peyraube from CEPM, representatives from ELO, ESA and FEFAC, they all were unanimous in welcoming the initiative and the creation of the new organisation, Sorghum ID.