Background:
To make sorghum viable in the food sector, special grain type varieties with flour texture suitable for food processing can directly be made into use for commercialization. Presently Kadabina Jola varieties of North Karnataka are used for traditional food preparations only during certain festive days. Ready to consume foods from sorghum are very few and the majority of ready to eat foods including flakes available are rice, maize or wheat based.:
Technology Details:
To make sorghum viable in the food sector, special grain type varieties like AKJ-1 with grain texture suitable for food processing can directly be made into use for commercialization. The natural red coloured flakes of this variety having antioxidants will have large impact on health of people. Value addition to such varieties encourages farmers to grow these varieties in larger areas, which otherwise will be vanishing from cultivation. Ready to consume foods are now preferred both in Urban and rural areas and sorghum flakes are expected to gain greater demand. This will boost up flake industry. The flour/semolina can be suitable substitute for wheat and rice flour in many dishes of North systems. :
AKJ-1 is a selection from Atharga Kempu Jola (with red coloured grains), a variety of Kadabina Jola (with property of high gelatinization of starch) was identified for its suitability for good flaking (seed to flake). The flakes of AKJ-1 are of good quality in terms high flake length and breadth, thin and uniform elliptical shaped and has a good keeping quality. The flakes of this variety are pink in colour unlike off white colour in most of roti making varieties. The sensory attributes like appearance, crispiness, taste, aroma, colour are highly acceptable to consumers. The flakes can be tailor made to suit to different needs in terms of nutrients as well as taste. Its grain and fodder yield on par with popular variety M 35-1. Its nutritional composition is good with dietary fiber content as good as M 35-1. Preliminary analysis for micronutrients in grains showed that this variety recorded higher iron and zinc content compared to M 35-1. Also, this variety has higher polyphenol content compared to M 35-1 indicating superior health beneficial properties. Name of crop/variety Rabi Sorghum; AKJ-1 (flaking) Parentage Pure line Selection in ‘Kadabina Jola/ Gidagempu Jola’ collected from farmer’s fields of Atharga Village of Vijayapur district in North Karnataka Year of release (CSC on CSN & RVAC) 2018-19 Gazette Notification Details S.O. 1246 (E) dated 27.3.2018 Yield (kg/ha) 10-12 Q/ha (grain); 30-35 Q/ha (fodder) Season Rabi Maturity Group 120-125 days Reaction to major diseases and insects It is tolerant to shoot fly, moderately tolerant to shoot bug damage and sugarcane aphid damage Other remarks • Grain and fodder yield on par with M 35-1 • Excellent flaking quality (seed to flake) (thin, crisp, tasty and light orange color) • Nutritional quality (grain & flakes) on par with M35-1 with additional benefit of presence of significantly high polyphenols content compared to M35-1. • Shelf life of flakes better than M 35-1 • Fodder quality (Fodder DM digestibility) is better than M 35-1 • Recommended for Zone 3 (Northern Dry Zone of Karnataka)