Constitutive Assembly, birth of « Sorghum ID » : the construction of the European sector

It is necessary to recall that it is on the basis of the state of play of sorghum in Europe that, at the beginning of 2016, an idea and several projects were developed at the initiative of Fnpsms (French Federation for seed maize and seed sorghum) members, in order to work towards building a European sorghum sector.

• 1^st step: First European Sorghum Congress, November 2016, Bucharest;
• 2^nd step: three-year promotion plans, supported by the European Commission and implemented as from spring 2017 in 7 different countries;
• 3^rd and last step: birth of “Sorghum ID” association last Tuesday in Brussels which is a European inter-branch sorghum association.

More than 50 European representatives from seed producing to manufacturing (10 different nationalities) attended this meeting, which was aimed at bringing together the various actors with a common and strategic objective: develop the production of sorghum in Europe, develop European hybrid genetics and specific action guidelines.

Also attending the meeting were representatives from Copa, DG AGRI, Members of the Parliament (via video) who have all welcomed and encouraged this initiative. This meeting can be considered a fundamental step towards the recognition of a sector that is currently under construction, as well as a way of giving new momentum to existing actions.

The next meeting of the Executive Board of the new association, Sorghum ID, will be held within the next 4 months with the aim of electing a Bureau and endorsing an action plan.

The state of play and prospects concerning the topic of “Animal Feed” will be addressed during this Executive Board meeting.