TAAT e-catalog
for
Development partners
https://e-catalogs.taat-africa.org/org/technologies/pac-501-high-yielding-and-drought-tolerant-white-grain-sorghum-hybrid
Unleash Prosperity with Our Drought-Tolerant White Grain Sorghum Hybrid
The high-yielding white grain sorghum hybrid, PAC 501, is a breakthrough technology offering significantly improved productivity. With an early maturity cycle of 95-100 days, it yields between 4 and 4.5 tons per hectare, which is higher than the average compared to conventional varieties that typically produce 2 tons per hectare. In optimal conditions, it can reach a potential yield of 11 tons per hectare. PAC 501 is drought-tolerant, providing reliable yields even under moisture stress, making it an ideal choice for regions with unpredictable rainfall. This variety is also nutritionally valuable, featuring high fiber and carbohydrate content, and is well-suited for human consumption and use in breweries. PAC 501 is currently used in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, and across Southern Africa, reshaping sorghum cultivation by increasing resilience and productivity in diverse environmental conditions.
This technology is pre-validated.
| Project | Countries | Beneficiaries | Budget (USD) & duration | Key figures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
SEPAREF Strengthening Emergency Preparedness and Response to Food Crisis |
|
|
10.56 million African Development Bank (AfDB) 2022–2025 |
|
Figures in italic are from project plans and may change during implementation.
Adults 18 and over: Positive high
Increases economic opportunities through higher crop yields, providing more reliable income from farming and commercial activities such as brewing.
The poor: Positive high
Improves resilience to drought and ensures higher yields even in challenging conditions, helping alleviate food insecurity in low-income areas.
Under 18: Positive medium
Enhances food security by providing nutritious grains with high fiber and carbohydrate content, promoting better nutrition and health.
Women: Positive high
Supports women farmers by offering a drought-tolerant crop that ensures stable yields, improving food production and income generation for families.
Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable
PAC 501 is drought-tolerant, helping farmers maintain productivity in regions with unpredictable or limited rainfall.
Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement
PAC 501 prepares farmers to better handle climate variability, making their farming practices more resilient.
Carbon footprint: Much less carbon released
By reducing the need for intensive inputs like irrigation, PAC 501 can help lower the carbon footprint of sorghum farming.
Water use: Much less water used
It reduces the need for excessive irrigation, making it efficient in water-scarce areas.
Persistent yield gaps: Low sorghum productivity can limit the effectiveness of agricultural programmes aimed at improving food security and farmer incomes.
Climate-related crop losses: Drought and moisture stress can undermine production gains and increase the vulnerability of smallholder farming households.
Uncertain farmer incomes: Low and variable harvests make it difficult for farmers to generate reliable income from sorghum production.
Unstable grain availability: Production fluctuations can weaken the reliability of local grain supply chains and affect food-security interventions.
Limited adoption of improved seed: Farmers may not have reliable access to high-performing hybrid varieties suitable for their production environments.
Challenges sustaining productivity gains: Without appropriate seed, agronomic practices, and input access, improvements in sorghum productivity may be difficult to maintain across seasons.
Support access to improved seed: Development partners can work with seed companies, cooperatives, and farmers to improve access to PAC 501 seed and maintain seed quality.
Build farmer capacity: Training can cover planting rates, spacing, fertilizer management, and recommended agronomic practices to support crop establishment and yield performance.
Strengthen climate-resilient production: Promote PAC 501 in suitable agroecological areas where drought tolerance and early maturity can help address moisture-related production risks.
Improve seed-system capacity: Support seed producers in quality assurance and certified seed multiplication to strengthen the availability of improved sorghum hybrid seed.
Develop market opportunities: Facilitate connections among farmers, grain traders, food processors, and breweries to support demand for white sorghum grain.
Monitor productivity and adoption: Track seed uptake, yield per hectare, production costs, grain quality, and farmer returns to assess performance under local conditions and guide future support.
A Solution for Sorghum Farming in Africa
The PAC 501 High yielding and drought tolerant white grain sorghum hybrid is a highly effective solution for improving sorghum production in regions facing challenges like drought, heat stress, and poor soil fertility. This hybrid variety offers significantly higher yields than traditional sorghum, with a 288% gross income increase, making it a reliable option for smallholder farmers, especially in areas with limited rainfall.
Its aligns with several Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 2 by enhancing food security through improved yields, SDG 13 by strengthening climate resilience, and SDG 3 by contributing to better health and well-being through improved nutrition and access to food.
As part of the Millet and Sorghum Technologies Toolkit, these varieties work in synergy with other technologies like
Precision Fertilizer Micro-Dosing technology to optimize production under harsh conditions. Together, they enhance the resilience and sustainability of sorghum farming, particularly in regions vulnerable to climate change, such as many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.
This technology is ideal for development programs focused on improving food security, farmer incomes, and sustainability. With partnerships from ADVANTA Seeds Company, it provides technical support and ensures successful implementation for wheat farmers across Africa.
average gross income
Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology's development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology's readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.
Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.
The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.
Read more about scaling readiness ›
Uncontrolled environment: validated
Common use by intended users, in the real world
| Maturity of the idea | Level of use | |||||||||
| 9 | ||||||||||
| 8 | ||||||||||
| 7 | ||||||||||
| 6 | ||||||||||
| 5 | ||||||||||
| 4 | ||||||||||
| 3 | ||||||||||
| 2 | ||||||||||
| 1 | ||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||
| Project | Countries | Beneficiaries | Budget (USD) & duration | Key figures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
SEPAREF Strengthening Emergency Preparedness and Response to Food Crisis |
|
|
10.56 million African Development Bank (AfDB) 2022–2025 |
|
Figures in italic are from project plans and may change during implementation.
| Country | Testing ongoing | Tested | Adopted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cameroon | –No ongoing testing | Tested | –Not adopted |
| Côte d'Ivoire | –No ongoing testing | Tested | –Not adopted |
| Egypt | –No ongoing testing | Tested | –Not adopted |
| Ghana | –No ongoing testing | Tested | Adopted |
| Malawi | –No ongoing testing | Tested | Adopted |
| Niger | –No ongoing testing | Tested | –Not adopted |
| South Africa | –No ongoing testing | Tested | –Not adopted |
| Tanzania, United Republic | –No ongoing testing | Tested | Adopted |
| The Republic of the Sudan | –No ongoing testing | Tested | Adopted |
This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.
| AEZ | Subtropic - warm | Subtropic - cool | Tropic - warm | Tropic - cool |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arid | ||||
| Semiarid | – | – | ||
| Subhumid | – | – | – | – |
| Humid | – | – | – | – |
Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.
It improves food security by significantly increasing crop yields and providing a reliable source of nutrition, even in drought-prone areas.
The high nutritional value of PAC 501 contributes to improved human health and well-being.
It contributes to climate resilience by providing a crop option that is adaptable in drought-prone regions.
Sowing in Rainy Season:
Characteristics:
Maturity:
Yield:
Last updated on Oct 21, 2026
This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones.
PAC 501: High yielding and drought tolerant white grain sorghum hybrid
https://e-catalogs.taat-africa.org/org/technologies/pac-501-high-yielding-and-drought-tolerant-white-grain-sorghum-hybrid
Last updated on 21 October 2026, printed on Oct 25, 2026
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