STORY: You are viewing images of a wheat field and a sorghum field taken on the same day from the same region in France.
But while the soil of the harvested wheat fields is bone dry due to the extreme heat of 2022, on the sorghum plantation the leaves are green and the plants are bearing a full ear.
The sorghum fields are owned by Eudes Couttes, who fights the heat with the drought-tolerant plant.
“Cultivation of sorghum is attractive because it brings with it a new cultivation, a new way of thinking about agriculture and moving more towards sustainable agriculture that conserves future resources.”
Location: Saint-Escobille, France
Sorghum is a grain that is little known in Europe but is widespread in other parts of the world and can be an ingredient in gluten-free baking, couscous or even beer.
According to Coutte, sorghum has the advantages of not requiring irrigation in much of France, requiring no pesticides, and requiring only a third of the fertilizer that wheat requires.
“It’s not a miracle solution, but a solution that makes it possible, among other things, to improve things, use less pesticides, use less fertilizer and, above all, conserve groundwater and water resources.”
But sorghum is not completely immune to drought.
Coutte expects to harvest three to four tons per hectare this year, compared to five or six in a normal year.
But he says the fact that this crop doesn’t require irrigation is a “competitive advantage” as drought is being felt across France and access to water is restricted.
To make his operations more sustainable, Coutte has invested in his own stone mill.
It turns part of its harvest into gluten-free sorghum flour.
The rest is sold as grains that can be cooked and eaten like lentils.
And more and more farmers are turning to this culture.
French sorghum production rose from 270,000 tons in 2016 to almost 440,000 tons in 2021, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture.
But gluten-free sorghum is still a niche market in Europe.
The story goes on
EU data shows that only about a quarter of the crop produced nationwide is for human consumption.
The rest goes to animal feed.
Coute works hard to find new markets for their crops.
He plans to work with local partners in the coming years to develop sorghum beer, veggie steaks and other products.
“Think of tomorrow’s agriculture and how we can grow and produce food without massive water use, the possibilities, what crops we can grow today and what we need to do in the future to conserve water supplies.”