She said that the project had enabled MCCD to learn how to use its colleges and community as an interactive laboratory for future international economic development endeavors. Dr. Jerry Maranville, a researcher at the University of Nebraska, examines sorghum leaves. University research has led to improvements in agriculture worldwide. U niversity research on grains such as sorghum and pearl millet impacts millions in the U.S. and in developing countries. Pearl millet is the staple cereal of 90 million people in developing countries, grown on almost 100 million acres worldwide.
Sorghum is the third most important food produced in Central America after maize and beans.
In Honduras, more than half of the sorghum produced in the mid-1980's came from small farms on steep hillsides with potential for soil erosion. Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plants, and fertilizers are often required as soil additives to maintain adequate levels. This translates to millions of dollars in savings to the sorghum industry and higher production in lower-input cropping systems in developing countries. A farmer in Niger displays the healthy grain of his sorghum crop. Purdue University contributed to a new line of sorghum well-adapted to the African country's harsh climate.