Such commercialized production systems cover less than 15 percent of the world's sorghum area, but produce over 40 percent of global output. Roughly 40 percent of this grain is traded on international stockfeed markets. While improved varieties are being adopted in such systems, particularly in Asia, management practices generally remain less intensive than in the commercialized systems. Fertilizer rates are low and the adoption of improved moisture conservation technologies is limited. While hybrids are being adopted in parts of Asia, most of the world's millet area remains under traditional varieties.
Few farmers apply fertilizer or use improved moisture conservation practices.
Sorghum and millet are crucial to the world food economy because they contribute to household food security in many of the world's poorest, most food-insecure regions. In the main production regions in Africa and Asia, more than 70 percent of the sorghum crop and over 95 percent of the millet crop are consumed as food. A large proportion of farm households aim simply to produce enough grain to meet household requirements - and many often fail to meet even this limited goal. Only a small proportion of the harvest is traded, mostly on local food markets. In Africa , the agroclimatic factors most responsible for food insecurity also constrain the adoption of improved technology.