🌾 Sorghum (Jowar) Production Technology

This lesson covers practical sorghum production technology for grain and fodder systems, including season-wise management and stress-resilient practices.

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Importance of Sorghum

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is the 5th most important cereal globally after wheat, rice, maize, and barley. In India, sorghum occupies approximately 6 million hectares (Mha) of area. Maharashtra and Karnataka are the leading states. Sorghum is a multi-purpose crop used as:

• Food: Human consumption, especially in rural Maharashtra and Karnataka (jowar bhakri)
• Feed: Green and dry fodder for livestock
• Fuel: Biomass energy; sweet sorghum for ethanol
• Industrial: Starch, alcohol production

Sorghum is a C4 crop with high water-use efficiency and excellent drought tolerance, making it vital for food security in semi-arid and arid regions.

Botanical Classification

• Scientific name: Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench
• Family: Poaceae (Gramineae)
• Chromosome number: 2n = 20
• Pollination: Primarily cross-pollinated (wind); some self-pollination (~10–15%)
• Erect, robust stem; large terminal panicle (thyrse); grain enclosed in glumes

Types of Sorghum

Type	Use	Key Feature
Kharif grain sorghum	Food, feed	June–July sowing; main season
Rabi grain sorghum	Food (chapati)	October–November; Maharashtra, Karnataka
Sweet sorghum	Ethanol, jaggery	High juice in stalk; brix 12–18°
Fodder sorghum	Green and dry fodder	High biomass; HCN watch (Sudangrass types)
Dual purpose	Grain + fodder	Best of both; SPV-1546

Climate Requirements

• Temperature: 25–32°C optimum; very high temperature tolerance
• Rainfall: Minimum 300–400 mm; highly drought tolerant once established
• C4 pathway: Efficient water and CO₂ use; suitable for semi-arid areas
• Waterlogging: Poor tolerance — root asphyxiation in flooded soils
• Sorghum has mechanisms to survive soil moisture stress through osmotic adjustment, leaf rolling, and waxy bloom on leaves

Soil Requirements

• Medium to heavy black cotton soils preferred (vertisols of Deccan)
• pH: 6.5–7.5
• Adaptability: Wide adaptability — can grow on shallow red soils to deep alluvial soils
• Avoids waterlogged or poorly aerated soils

Varieties and Hybrids

Grain Sorghum — CSH Hybrids

• CSH-16: ICAR-IIMR, Hyderabad; most widely grown kharif hybrid; white grain; grain mold tolerant
• CSH-25: High yield; improved grain quality; suitable for food use
• ICSV-745: ICRISAT; white grain; medium duration

Rabi Sorghum Varieties

• M-35-1 (Maldandi): Most popular rabi sorghum in Maharashtra; bold white grain; photoperiod-sensitive; 150 days; extremely popular for jowar bhakri

White Grain Varieties

• SPV-462: White grain; suitable for food use and consumer preference
• SPV-1546: Dual purpose (grain + fodder); medium duration

Sweet Sorghum (Ethanol/Energy Crop)

• ICSSH-89: ICRISAT; high stalk sugar; suitable for ethanol distilleries
• NSS-208: National Seeds; sweet sorghum for juice extraction

Fodder Sorghum

• HC-308: Punjab; high biomass; multiple cuts possible
• CO(S) 28: Tamil Nadu; high green fodder yield; low HCN types preferred

Seed Rate and Spacing

• Seed rate: 10–12 kg/ha
• Spacing: 45×15 cm for hybrid grain sorghum; 60×15 cm for fodder types
• Sowing depth: 3–4 cm

Sowing

• Kharif: June–July at onset of monsoon
• Rabi: October–November (post-kharif; residual moisture in black soils)
• Seed treatment: Thiram 3g/kg seed (control of seed-borne diseases); Carbofuran 3G in furrow for shoot fly management in early stage

Nutrient Management

• Recommended NPK (hybrid): 80:40:30 kg/ha
• Recommended NPK (varieties): 60:30:20 kg/ha
• Split N application:
  • Basal: 50% N + full P + full K
  • Knee-high stage (25 DAS): 50% N top-dressing
• Zinc: Apply ZnSO₄ 25 kg/ha in zinc-deficient soils (common in Deccan plateau)
• Rabi sorghum on black soils may need limited P (soils are P-rich)

Water Management

• Sorghum survives on 3–4 irrigations if available; can produce reasonable yield with no irrigation (rainfed)
• Critical stage: Panicle emergence to grain filling — drought at this stage causes significant yield loss
• Drought escape mechanism: early-maturing varieties (CSH-16) complete grain fill before terminal drought
• In kharif, rain provides most water requirement; supplemental irrigation at flowering

Weed Management

• Atrazine 0.5 kg ai/ha as pre-emergence herbicide (2–3 DAS) — effective against grasses and broadleaved weeds
• 2 hand weedings at 20 and 40 DAS
• Sorghum is susceptible to Striga (witch weed) in low-fertility soils — a parasitic weed; management with resistant varieties + herbicide + strigolactone inhibitors

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Shoot Fly (Atherigona soccata)

• Most important pest of kharif sorghum in India
• Young larvae destroy growing point → "dead heart" symptom
• Management:
  • Early sowing (before July 15) to escape peak fly pressure
  • Seed treatment with Imidacloprid or Thiamethoxam
  • Resistant varieties (CSH-16 has moderate resistance)
  • Removal and destruction of dead hearts
  • Profenophos spray at 1–2 weeks after emergence

Stem Borer (Chilo partellus)

• Bores into stem; tunnels; dead heart and brittle plant
• Trichogramma releases (50,000/ha); Endosulfan spray

Ear Head Midge (Stenodiplosis sorghicola)

• Damages florets at anthesis; chaffy grains; heavy losses
• Resistant varieties; early-maturing varieties escape midge
• Quinalphos spray at flowering

Major Diseases

Disease	Pathogen	Management
Charcoal rot	Macrophomina phaseolina	Soil-borne; rotate crops; avoid drought stress; resistant varieties
Downy mildew	Peronosclerospora sorghi	Metalaxyl seed treatment 6g/kg; destroy systemic infected plants
Grain mold	Fusarium, Curvularia, Colletotrichum	Glume-blighting; economic loss in wet seasons; open-glume resistant varieties (CSH-16); Mancozeb spray at grain filling

Anti-Quality Traits of Sorghum

Tannin

• Condensed tannins in grain reduce protein digestibility by binding to proteins
• High-tannin varieties have brown pericarps (brown grain) — protects against birds and grain mold but reduces feed value
• Preference: White-grained, low-tannin varieties for food and feed; some brown-grain varieties retained for bird resistance
• Endosperm types: Floury (soft) vs corneous (hard) endosperm; affects grinding, digestibility

Prussic Acid (HCN)

• Hydrocyanic acid present in young fodder sorghum and Sudangrass; released on wilting or drought
• Dangerous for livestock if fed fresh young plants
• Safe level: <200 ppm HCN; avoid cutting before 60 cm height; wilt before feeding

Harvesting

• Duration: 100–120 days for kharif grain sorghum hybrids; 130–150 days for rabi M-35-1
• Ear head harvest: Cut panicles first; allow to dry; then thresh
• Stover: Remaining stalk used as dry fodder for cattle — high economic value
• Threshing: Mechanical thresher or manual beating on hard surface

Yield Potential

• Hybrid (CSH-16): 3–5 t/ha grain + 8–10 t/ha stover
• Varieties (M-35-1): 2–3 t/ha grain
• Sweet sorghum: 35–50 t/ha fresh biomass; 2,000–3,000 L ethanol/ha

Sorghum Hybrids/Varieties — Summary Table

Type	Hybrid/Variety	Grain Color	Yield (t/ha)	Special Feature
Kharif hybrid	CSH-16	White	4–5	Most popular; grain mold tolerant
Kharif hybrid	CSH-25	White	4–5	Improved food quality
Rabi variety	M-35-1 (Maldandi)	White	2.5–3.5	Most popular rabi sorghum; Maharashtra
Dual purpose	SPV-1546	White	2.5–3.0	Grain + stover value
Sweet sorghum	ICSSH-89	Red/Brown	8–10 biomass	High stalk sugar; ethanol crop
Fodder	HC-308	—	40–60 t/ha green	Multi-cut; high biomass

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Summary Cheat Sheet

Area	Key Exam Point
Crop trait	Sorghum is a hardy C4 cereal suited to dryland farming
System role	Used for grain, fodder, and dual-purpose production
Management focus	Timely sowing, moisture conservation, and integrated protection

References

2 sources • [1] [2]

[1]

ICAR — Indian Council of Agricultural Research

Official

[2]

Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India

Official