L’avenir prometteur du sorgho sucré en Haïti

In environments with limited rainfall and fertility, the cultivation of sweet sorghum is better suited than that of sugar cane. Sweet sorghum is a hardier crop. It also grows quickly, is highly adaptable, has strong potential for biomass production, combines grain production with the accumulation of sugars in the stalk, and lends itself easily to making alcohol or syrup. It can lead to a significant increase in household income and thus help keep rural populations in the countryside by generating new production and marketing outlets for bagasse and green leaves (fodder), syrup, and alcohol gels or spirits. The work presented in this paper shows that in Haiti, the cultivation of sweet sorghum enables growers to multiply their income by up to two and a half times, for the same grain output, by exploiting the sweet sorghum stalks. Moreover, the sweet sorghum cycle is complementary to that of sugar cane and enables cane-processing plants to extend their operating season. It is a crop that can generate substantial revenues and create jobs in rural areas.