Sorghum is an important cereal crop grown in tropical and semi-arid regions around the world. It is well adapted to low rainfall conditions and high temperatures. The major sorghum growing regions in India are Central and Peninsular India. Sorghum grows well in a wide range of climates and soil types but prefers warm temperatures between 26-30°C, annual rainfall between 450-1000mm, and sandy loam soils with a pH between 5.5-7.0. Common varieties include CSH-13, CSH-16, and Jawahar jowar-938 for kharif production and CSH-13R and CSH-22 for rabi production. Major
Sorghum is an important cereal crop grown in tropical and semi-arid regions around the world. It is well adapted to low rainfall conditions and high temperatures. The major sorghum growing regions in India are Central and Peninsular India. Sorghum grows well in a wide range of climates and soil types but prefers warm temperatures between 26-30°C, annual rainfall between 450-1000mm, and sandy loam soils with a pH between 5.5-7.0. Common varieties include CSH-13, CSH-16, and Jawahar jowar-938 for kharif production and CSH-13R and CSH-22 for rabi production. Major
Sorghum is an important cereal crop grown in tropical and semi-arid regions around the world. It is well adapted to low rainfall conditions and high temperatures. The major sorghum growing regions in India are Central and Peninsular India. Sorghum grows well in a wide range of climates and soil types but prefers warm temperatures between 26-30°C, annual rainfall between 450-1000mm, and sandy loam soils with a pH between 5.5-7.0. Common varieties include CSH-13, CSH-16, and Jawahar jowar-938 for kharif production and CSH-13R and CSH-22 for rabi production. Major
Sorghum is an important cereal crop grown in tropical and semi-arid regions around the world. It is well adapted to low rainfall conditions and high temperatures. The major sorghum growing regions in India are Central and Peninsular India. Sorghum grows well in a wide range of climates and soil types but prefers warm temperatures between 26-30°C, annual rainfall between 450-1000mm, and sandy loam soils with a pH between 5.5-7.0. Common varieties include CSH-13, CSH-16, and Jawahar jowar-938 for kharif production and CSH-13R and CSH-22 for rabi production. Major
Chromosome number: 2n=20 Origin- Ethiopia (Africa) Sorghum is an important tropical cereal food, feed and fodder crop. It is an important grain and forage crop of semiarid regions due to its high adaptability and suitability to rain-fed low input agriculture. It is one of the most widely grown dry land food grain in India. Geographical Distribution Sorghum is grown all parts of the world except cool North east part of Europe. Sorghum belts in India receive 400-1000mm rainfall. In the World, Africa (Nigeria, Sudan) is the major continent cultivates sorghum and North America, South America and Asian continents also grow sorghum. In India, mainly on central & peninsular India such as, Maharashtra, Karnataka, MP, AP, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are important states cultivating sorghum crop. Climatic Requirements for Sorghum: Sorghum can grow in a wide range of ecological conditions and can still yield well even under unfavorable conditions of drought stress and high temperatures. Sorghum requires warm conditions but it can be grown under a wide range of conditions. It can tolerate high temperature throughout its life cycle better than any other crop. Sorghum requires about 26-30 oC temperature for good growth. The minimum temperature for the germination of the sorghum seed is 7 to 10 oC. Grain sorghum does not germinate and grow well under cool soil conditions. Poor emergence and seedling growth may result if planted before soil temperatures reach 35 oC. Sorghum is best adapted to areas having an average annual rainfall between 45 to 65 cm (17 to 25 inches). Soil: Sorghum grown in wild range of soil but Sandy loam soil is best for sorghum growth. pH Range 5.5 -7.0 are more considerable for growth of plant. Land Preparation: The first ploughing should be done with soil turning plough so that 20-25 cm deep soil may become loose. It should be followed by two to three harrowing or three to four inter-crossing ploughings with country plough. Proper tillage reduces weeds by killing the germination seedlings and burying deep the weed seeds. Varieties: Following are the important varieties of the crop: Kharif Rabi Sweet sorghum Fodder
CSH-13, CSH-16, CSH-18, CSH-12R, CSH-13R, CSH-22 SS Hara sona, Pant chari-4, Jawahar jowar-938, GJ 38, DSH-4R, DSV-5, SPV- MP Chari, Pusa chari-1. CSV-15, Swarna hybrid. 1626, Prabhani moti, Uttara. Sowing Time: Kharif - June to July Rabi - September to October Summer - January to February Method of Sowing: Ridge- Furrow method, Broadcasting and line sowing. Spacing: Row to row 45 cm, plant to plant 10-12 cm and depth 3-4 cm. Seed rate: 10-12 kg/ha for irrigated and 12-15 kg/ha for rainfed. Seed treatment: Thiram, agrosan should be used @ 0.2 % solution of seed to control seed borne diseases. Manures and fertilisers: The field should be manured with 10 to 12 tonnes FYM to meet requirement of secondary and micro nutrients. Basal application of 100 kg nitrogen, 50 kg P2O5 and 40 kg K2O per hectare for hybrid and improved varieties of sorghum under irrigation condition. Half dose of nitrogen and total amount of phosphorus and potash should be applied at the time of sowing. The remaining half quantity of nitrogen should be top dressed after 30-35 days after sowing. In case of rainfed crop, quantity of fertilizer should be reduced to half of the irrigated condition. Water management: Usually, sorghum is grown as a rainfed crop. Three essential irrigations at vegetative stage, flowering stage and grain filling stage require more water. Important weeds: Sorghum is a warm season crop and is planted under condition that also favours germination and growth of weeds. Sorghum is infested with Banchari (Sorghum halepanse), Sawan (Echinochloa crusgulli), Makra (Dactelocenium aegyptium), Anjan grass (Echinochloa colonum), Doob (Cynodon dactylon), Motha (Cyperus rotundus) and Bandrabandri (Setaria glauca). Weed Control: Summer ploughing for destroying stubbles and perennial weeds. Timely sowing of crop to minimize crop weed competition. Proper spacing to facilitate inter weeding operation. Keep the field free from weeds. Cultural methods such as planting time, planting geometry, inter-cropping, crop rotation, inter-cultivation etc. are traditional and very useful in managing the weeds. Pre-emergence application of atrazine at the rate of 0.5- 1.0 kg active ingredient per hectare has been found highly selective for sorghum. Disease management The three major diseases affecting sorghum:- Grain mold: Molds occurs when flowering coincides with rainfall. The grains turn black, white or pink in color. Control: Grow resistant cultivars. Spray ear-heads with Aurefungin 200 PPM + 0.2 % Captan three times from flowering at 10 days interval or Dithane M 45 – 0.2 % + Bavistin 0.2 % twice at 10 days interval after commencement of flowering. Charcoal rot: Charcoal rot is the significant rabi sorghum disease, which is serious in the shallow soils in dry areas of Maharashtra and Karnataka. Control: Grow resistant cultivars; apply minimum dose of nitrogenous fertilizers with low plant density in infected soils; adopt inter-cropping rather than sole cropping; resort to moisture conservation practices like mulching with wheat straw; and soil treatment with Thiram @ 4.5 kg/ha at the time of sowing. Downy mildew-On the young leaves downy whitish growth, mostly on the lower surface with yellowing on the corresponding upper surface is seen. Control: Spraying with Metalaxyl (Radomil) 0.1% solution; Thiram, agrosan should be used @ 3 g/kg of seed and growing resistant varities like CSV-3, CSV-4, CSV-5. Insect-pests management: Shoot fly and stem borer are the major insect pests. Shoot fly (Atherigona soccata): Planting with the onset of monsoon in Kharif and between September end to first week of October is ideal to escape from shoot fly. Another important practice is to increase seed rate and destroy the dead heart seedlings after removal. Furrow application of Carbofuran 3G @ 2 grams per row or spray Cypermethrin 10 EC @ 0.02% coinciding with Shoot fly oviposition (7-14 days after germination) only for late sown crop. Stem Borer (Chilo partellus):Destroy thrashed sorghum ear heads before the onset of monsoon; use high seed rate and thin out the infected plants after 10-12 days of sowing, apply Endosulfan 4G/Carbonfurn 2 gm @ 8- 10 kg/ha. in plant rows at 20th and 35th days after germination. Hairy caterpillar- Egg masses should be collected and destroyed; Spray the crop with Endosulfan 35 EC@ 1 litre in 600 litre water/ha.
Harvesting Time: Most of the high yielding sorghum hybrids and varieties take about 100-115 days to mature. The right stage for harvest is when grains have become hard having less than 25 per cent moisture. Harvesting is done during September to October. Yield: With improve cultural practices it is possible to harvest under Irrigated condition, Grain-15-20 qtl/ha under Rainfed condition, Grain-10-15 qtl/ha.
