Sorghum

Crop Establishment

Sowing

  • Seed rate is 15 kg/ha.
  • Soak the seeds in 2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate (20 gm in one litre of water) or 500 ppm of cycocel (CCC) (1 ml/litre of water) for six hours and shade dry for 5 hours. Use 350 ml of solution for soaking one kg of seeds.
  • If biofertilizers are not applied in the soil treat the seeds with three packets of Azospirillum and three pockets of Phosphobacterium/ha.
  • To control shoot fly infestation pelletise the seeds with chlorpyriphos @ 4 ml/kg. Follow the procedure given in irrigated sorghum.
  • Sow the seeds over the line where the fertilizers are placed and cover with soil.
  • Spacing to be adopted is 45 x 15 cm or 45 x 10 cm.
  • If intercropped with pulses sow the seeds to fall 10 cm apart in the line between paired rows of sorghum.

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Intercrop

  • In rainfed vertisols, adopt paired row sowing in sorghum and sow one row of blackgram/ cowpea in between paired rows of sorghum.
  • Intercropping of sunflower CO.1 with the maincrop of sorghum CO.26 in 4:2 ratio is recommended under rainfed conditions during North-East monsoon for black soils of Coimbatore.
  • Soyabean can be intercropped with sorghum @ 4:2 ratio during South-West monsoon.

Seasons

  • Adipattam : June - July
  • Puratasipattam : September - October

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Tamilnadu