Sorghum is a major world cereal, with a total sown area of 43.7 million ha (FAO 1995). Sorghum (known as Kaoliang in China) has long been grown in China. Early in this century, sorghum covered about a fifth of the total cultivated area in China, and ranged third in importance behind rice and wheat. Sorghum is still one of the most important cereals in the semi-arid regions of northeastern and northwestern China where natural calamities are fairly frequent. Drought, flooding, salinization, sandy wasteland, diseases, and insect pests are major limita tions to agricultural production in this area. Sorghum is the most widely adapted crop in these regions (Andrews and Bramel-Cox 1994). In 1952, a total of 9.4 million ha was sown which was about 6.6% ofthe national cropped area. In 1994, only 1.3 million has was sown, a reduction of 85% compared to 1952. However, yield per unit area in 1994 rose to 3 700 kg ha~(-1) from 1200 kg ha~(-1) in 1952, an increase of about 200%. Thus, total production was 4.9million tons in 1994 compared to 11,1 million tons in 1952. This shift is attributed to the improvement of agricultural production conditions and a consequent change in food preferences of people from sorghum to rice and wheat.
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机译：高粱是世界主要谷物，播种总面积为4370万公顷（粮农组织，1995年）。高粱（在中国被称为高粱）在中国早已种植。在本世纪初，高粱占中国耕地总面积的约五分之一，其重要性仅次于水稻和小麦。在中国东北和西北半干旱地区，自然灾害频发，高粱仍然是最重要的谷物之一。干旱，洪水，盐碱化，沙质荒地，疾病和虫害是该地区农业生产的主要限制。高粱是这些地区适应最广泛的作物（Andrews and Bramel-Cox 1994）。 1952年，总共播种了940万公顷，约占全国种植面积的6.6％。 1994年，仅播种了130万公顷，比1952年减少了85％。但是，1994年的单位面积单产从1952年的1200千克ha〜（-1）上升到3700千克ha〜（-1），增加约200％。因此，1994年的总产量为490万吨，而1952年为1,110万吨。这一转变归因于农业生产条件的改善以及随之而来的人们从高粱到水稻和小麦的食物偏好变化。
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