World Research Gathers around Sorghum

Early in June this year, the second World Sorghum Conference took place in Montpellier, for five days. Focusing on the crop’s resilience and sustainability within the current climate change context, the exceptional event also discussed the whole value chain of sorghum and the industry’s major challenges. More than 400 members of the world sorghum community attended the conference, in order to present their work, build partnerships or strengthen their existing ones. Their dedication to sorghum – a crop that offers so many prospects – bodes well for the crop’s future.

“I was happy to see the commitment and excitement of our global sorghum community”,

Jurandir Magalhaes, Head of the Global Sorghum Association (GSA) stated.

The conference participants (over 400), the diversity of their geographical origins (more than 40 countries represented), the wide variety of their activities (almost 150 different organisations), and the range of the topics that were discussed were a reason of satisfaction for the organizers. Structured into five plenary sessions, twenty dedicated workshops, one hundred and sixty posters, and numerous informal exchanges that took place in the exhibition space, the agenda of the conference was particularly rich. In addition to the presentations and the debates, the participants appreciated the networking element of the event.

“In one place, during several days, we have been able to sit next to the most committed and competent sorghum experts in the world. We have been able to access their experience – and what is more, we have had the opportunity to meet them directly and exchange views with them. This favours the creation of new partnerships”, was the general comment of the attendees we spoke with.

See the detailed agenda and the speakers.