Sowing season:

Kharif season

Rabi season

Growing country:

India, China, Yemen, Pakistan and Thailand

Growing states:

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Predesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujrat, Rajasthan, Uttar Predesh (the Bundelkhand region) and Tamil Nadu are the major jowar growing state.

• Deep ploughing with mould board plough once or twice.
• Sorghum does not required fine tilth it adversely affects germination and yield in the case of direct sown crop.
• The subsoil hard pan in Alfisols (deep red soils) chiselling the field at 0.5 m intervals to a depth of 40 cm on both the directions of the field followed by disc ploughing once and cultivator ploughing twice help to increase the yield of sorghum
• In soils with sub-soil hard pan, chiselling should be done every year at the start of the cropping sequence to create a favorable physical environment.
• Alluvial soil or mixed black soil and red soil are perfect for jowar
• The optimum pH for jowar is 6 to 8.5

Seed Rate:

Single cut type: 16 – 20kg/acre

Multi cut type: 8 – 10kg/acre

Seed Treatment:

Carbendazim or Captan or Thiram at 2g/kg of seed.

Jowar is a tropical crop and Temperature between 27⁰C to 32⁰C but temperature condition below 16⁰C is harmful for the crop. Jowar requires a moderate rainfall between 30 and 65 cm.

• Irrigate immediately after cutting the main crop
• Irrigation should not be delayed for more than 24hour after cutting
• Irrigate on 3^rd or 4^th day after cutting
• Stop irrigation on 70 to 80 days after ratooning.

• Field free of weeds from 2^nd week of germination till 5^th week
• Recommended dose of Atrazine at pre – emergence 25 kg/ha.
• Use Pendimethaline at 0.75kg/ha
• If pulse crop is to be raised as an intercrop in sorghum do not use Atrazine, spray PE Pendimethalin @ 0.75 kg/ha on 3-5 DAS

1.Head Smut: Sphacelotheca reiliana

Symptom:

• The entire ear head is either completely or partially replaced by a large whitish gall.
• The spores are blown away, exposing the dark filaments.

Management:

• In the areas where the disease occurs commonly, the best practice is to plant resistant cultivars
• Seed treatment with Carboxin (Vitavax) @ 2g/kg of seed.
• Collect smutted ear heads in cloth bags and dip in boiling water to remove inoculum

2. Long Smut: Tolyposporium ehrenbergii

Symptom:

• Relatively small proportion of the florets are infected.
• The sori or spore sacs are cylindrical, elongate, usually slightly curved with a relatively thick creamy-brown covering membrane.

Management:

• Seed treatment with Carboxin (Vitavax) @ 2g/kg or Captan/Thiram 4g/kg of seed.
• Collect smutted earheads in cloth bags and destruct by dipping in boiling water.
• Avoid rationing.

3. Downy Mildew: Peronosclerospora sorghi

Symptom:

Abundant downy white growth is produced nocturnally on the under surfaces of infected portions of leaves during humid weather

Management:

Spray any one of the fungicides like Metalaxyl + Mancozeb 500 g or Mancozeb 1000g/ha after noticing the symptoms of foliar diseases.

4. Rust: Puccinia Purpurea

Symptom:

• The pustules are elliptical and parallel with the leaf veins.
• In highly susceptible cultivars the pustules occur so densely that almost the entire leaf tissue is destroyed.

Management:

Spray Mancozeb at 1kg/ha. Repeat fungicidal application after 10 days.

5. Anthracnose and red rot: Colletotrichum graminicola

Symptom:

Infected stems when split open show discoloration continuous over a large area, or more marbled appearance.

Management:

• Seed treatment with Captan or Thiram @ 4g/kg of seed.
• Spray with Mancozeb 1 kg/ha.

1. Shootfly: 

Symptoms:

• The maggot bores inside the stem and cuts the growing point.
• Central shoots dried and produce “dead heart” symptom.
• The infested plants produces side tillers.

Management:

• Use seeds pelleted with insecticides
• Seed treatment with imidacloprid 70 WS @ 10 g/kg of seeds

 2. Stem borer:

Symptom:

• Red mining in the midrib
• Bore holes visible on the stem near the nodes.
• Tender folded leaves have parallel “shot hole”

Management:

• Mix any one of the following insecticides with sand to make
  up a total quantity of 50 kg/ha and apply in the leaf whorls:
• Phorate 10 G 8 kg/ha
• Carbofuran 3 G 17 kg/ha

3. Shoot bug: 

Symptoms:

• Plants become unhealthy stunted and yellow.
• The leaves wither from top downwards.
• Panicle formation is inhibited and the plants die if attack is severe.

Management:

• Spray with 0.04% diazine (or) dimethoate 0.02%
• Application of phosphomidon @ 250 ml in 450-500 litres water/ha.

4. Earhead bug: 

Symptoms:

• Nymphs and adult suck the juice from within the grains when they are in the milky stage.
• Grains shrink and turn black in colour and ill filled (or) chaffy.
• Presence of large number of nymphs and adults are seen on the ear head.

Management:

• Apply any of the following on 3^rd and 18^th day after panicle emergence
• Carbaryl 10 D 25kg/ha
• Malathion 5 D 25kg/ha
• Neem seed kernel extract 5%

1. Nitrogen:

Symptom:

Plants stunted, spindly pale yellow or deep yellow color near the tips and margins progresses toward the base heads small seed numbers reduced.

Correction Measure:

Foliar spray of Urea 1% or DAP 2%.

2. Potassium:

Symptom:

Deficiency first seen on older leaves.  Irregular necrotic patterns intermingled with red pigmentation.  Streaked patterns on the interveinal tissue symptoms at tips and margins move towards the base.

Correction Measure:

Foliar spray of KCl 1%

3. Phosphorus:

Symptom:

Small root systems; grain filling inhibited.  Growth stunted, spindly, dark green leaves with dark red coloration.  Leaf sheaths bend upward with red coloration leaf. Leave appear to be erect and leathery. Roots turn dark brown purple or black.

Correction Measure:

Foliar spray of DAP 2% 2-3 sprays

Harvesting:

• Seeds attain maturity 40 – 45 days after 50% flowering with 25-28% seed moisture content.
• Harvest the earheads when the seed attain the characteristic yellow colour, as once over harvest.

Threshing-

Thresh the earheads either manually or mechanically at a moisture content of 15 – 18 %.

Yield:

150 – 200 quintal of green fodder per acre for single cut type to 280 – 320 quintal per acre for multi cut cultivar.