SORGHUM - AN IMPORTANT CEREAL IN THE WORLD, IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND ROMANIA.

The paper analyzed the status of Sorghum crop worldwide, in the EU and Romania regarding the cultivated area, production, yield and trade pointing out the main trends. The data provided by the Data bases of NIS and Faostat have been processed using usual methods such as fixed index and comparison. In 2017, the world Sorghum production reached 63.9 million tonnes, and the average yield 1,427 kg/ha. The main producers of Sorghum are the USA, Nigeria, Sudan, Mexico, Ethiopia and India. In 2017, the EU represented just 0.12% of the world area cultivated with Sorghum. and produced 755 thousand tonnes of grains,i.e.1.18% of the world output. But, the EU average yield is 5,580 kg/ha, being 3.81 times higher than the world mean. In main EU producers of Sorghum are: Italy, France, Spain, Romania, Austria, Hungary, and Bulgaria. In 2017, Romania cultivated 13,833 ha, representing 25.2% of the EU area and produced 54,282 tonnes Sorghum grains, i.e.7.18% to the EU output. Per surface unit, Romania carried out 3,879 kg/ha, 2.71 times more than the world mean and by 30% less than in the EU. Romania is also an important exporter of sorghum grains and the trade balance is positive. Due to the advantages of this crop and taking into account the need to mitigate the effects of climate change, the EU policy provides a new perspective to grow the cultivated surface and production. Romanian farmers must use new technologies, paying attention to high value hybrids, fertilization and plant protection to improve yield, and production. Romania has to keep its position as an important producer and exporter of Sorghum in the EU by developing this agricultural sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]