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CROP INFORMATION
CROP : SORGHUM (Sorghum bicolor)
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Sorghum is a member of the grass family
and a native wild plant of Africa. Summer annual, coarse,
erect with much variability in growth characteristics;
culms solid or sometimes with spaces in pith, 0.6-5 m
tall, depending on variety and growing conditions, 5 to
over 30 mm in diameter, either dry at maturity or with
sweet insipid juice; leaves broad and coarse, similar
in shape to those of corn but shorter and wider; blades
glabrous and waxy; sheaths encircle culm and have overlapping
margins; panicle erect, sometimes recurved, usually compact
in most grain sorghums and more open in forage types;
seed covered by glumes that may or may not be removed
by threshing; prop roots may grow from culm nodes; bud
at each node from which a tiller may grow; seeds white,
yellow, red, or brown; panicle with up to 6,000 spikelets.
Seeds 25,000 to 61,740/kg.
Sorghum is a plant of hot and warm localities. The optimum
temperature for growth is 300C and it needs about 250-400
mm rainfall. Excess moisture and prolonged drought are
harmful. It is fairly tolerant to alkalinity and salinity.Soils
with clay loam or loam texture, having good water retension
capacity are best suited for sorghum cultivation.
Always use certified seeds. Seed treatment
with Thiram @ 3g per kg seed is recommended.. In the case
of hybrids, use new hybrid seeds every year.
Seasons
Rainfed crop: May-August
Irrigated crop: January-April
Varieties of sorghum are classified into
4 groups: grain sorghums, grass sorghums, sweet sorghums,
and broom corn. Broom corn is grown for the branches of
the seed cluster, which are used to make brooms. Sweet
sorghums have sweet juicy stems and are grown to be made
into sorghum syrup. The syrup is made by pressing the
juice out of the stems and boiling it down to the proper
thickness. Sweet sorghums can also be made into animal
feed or silage. Grass sorghums are grown for green feed
and hay but can also be weeds. Two types of grass sorghums
that grow in Kansas are Sudan grass, an annual grown for
feed and hay, and Johnsongrass, a perennial weed.
Varieties
Co.1, Co-10, Co-12, Co-17, K-1, K-2
Hybrids - CSH-1 to CSH-4, Co-11, Co-1
Seed rate and sowing
Seeds are sown at the rate of 12-15 kg/ha. Dibble two
seeds/hole, at a spacing of 45 x 15 cm
Usually sorghum is grown as a rainfed crop.
At the time of flowering and grain filling stages the
crop requires more water. At no stage plant should be
allowed to wilt.
For both irrigated and rainfed crops FYM
/ compost may be applied @ 5 t/ha.
Fertilizers may be applied as follows
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Nutrients
/ ha
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Irrigated Crop
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Rainfed Crop
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N
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90 kg
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45 kg
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P2O5
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45 kg
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25 kg
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K2O
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45 kg
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25 kg
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Apply FYM and entire quantity of P2O5 and K2O as basal
dose. Apply N in two equal splits, half as basal and the
rest 30 days after sowing.
Thinning, weeding and hoeing may be done
on the 20th day after sowing
Apply carbofuran @ 1.5 kg ai/ha on the
25th day after germination against stem borer. Apply carbaryl
or methyl parathion at milky stages for the control of
earhead bugs. Spray zineb @ 2g/l/ha on 30th and 45th day
after germination for the control of foliar diseases.
Sorghum takes about 100-115 days to mature.The
right time to harvest is when the grains have become hard
having less than 25% moisture. Do not wait for stalks
and leaves to dry. In the areas where there is chances
of rain at the time of harvesting, the mature earheads
should be harvested first and plants cut and heaped later
on.
Threshed grain should be cleaned and dried
in sun for 6-7 days to bring the moisture content below
13%.
5 tons/ha grain and 10 tons/ha of dry stover
under irrigated condition.
2.5-3 tons/ha grain and 8-10 tons/ha of dry stover under
rainfed condition.
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