Short answers, pulled from the story.
Sorghum bicolor was first domesticated in the region of the Rivers Atbara and Gash in Eastern Sudan more than 5,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence from a site near Kassala dating between 3500 and 3000 BCE confirms this grain was a cornerstone of the Neolithic Butana Group culture.
The five distinct races of Sorghum bicolor are bicolor, caudatum, durra, guinea, and magentiferum. The bicolor race spread from Sudan to India and West Africa, while caudatum took root in the Sahel and durra likely originated in India.
Sweet sorghum served as a domestic alternative to sugar in the United States during the 19th century when production declined in the British West Indies. Farmers in rural Tennessee were crushing the stalks to extract juice for syrup by 1933, and the juice now serves as a feedstock for biofuel.
Sorghum bicolor faces threats from over 150 species of insects and parasitic plants including the lesser grain borer beetle and Striga hermonthica. The plant defends itself by producing chitinases, natural compounds that act as a shield against fungal diseases like anthracnose and ergot.
The genome of Sorghum bicolor was sequenced between 2005 and 2007 and contains 27,577 genes with a genome size of approximately 800 megabases. This complex genetic history may include a tetraploid origin and supports the development of 194 improved cultivars planted worldwide today.
The Dagoman people of Australia personify Sorghum bicolor as a spirit and use local species for food and ritual. In Korea, the origin tale of the sun and moon involves a tiger staining a sorghum stalk red, while the Benandanti visionaries of Northeastern Italy used sorghum sticks to fight off Maledanti.