Sorghum

Management Time Table

Irrigated Sorghum Rainfed Sorghum Forage Sorghum Irrigated Fodder Sorghum

Irrigated Sorghum

Management time table for irrigated sorghum

Days	Operation
7-0 day	Plough the field. Break the hard pan if any. Apply 12.5 tonnes of FYM or composted coir pith along with 2 kg of Azospirillum per ha. Incorporate the manure by working with country plough Treat the seeds with fungicides Metalaxyl or Capton or Thiram @ 4 gm/ kg. Form ridges and furrows or flat beds.
1st day	Apply half the dose of nitrogen and full dose of phosphorus and potash. Incorporate the fertilizers in the soil. Sow the seeds and irrigate.
4th day	Give life irrigation. Apply weedicide Atrazin @ 500 g/ha
10-30 days	Shoot fly management Charcoal rot and downy mildew management.
15th day	Irrigation
23rd day	Thinning and gap filling 25 -35th day Stem borer management
30th day	Top dressing with balance nitrogen Irrigation
30-70th day	Rust, leaf spot and red rot management Aphid and shoot bug management
35- 40 day	Hand weeding if weedicide not applied.
40th day	Irrigation
52nd day	Irrigation
64th day	Irrigation
60-80th day	Ear head pest and disease management
76th day	Irrigation
88th day	Irrigation
100-110 days	Harvesting and threshing.

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Cultivation of Rainfed Sorghum

Land Preparation

Ploughing

Plough the field with an iron plough once and twice with a country plough. Fine tilth is not needed as it affects germination and yield.
In soils with sub-soil hard pan, chiselling should be done every year at the start of each season. After chiselling, plough once with disc plough and twice with cultivator.

Application Of Farm Yard Manure (Fym)

Spread FYM @ 12.5 tonnes/ha or composted coir pith along with 2kg of Azospirillum (10 packets/ha) on the unploughed field and incorporate the manure in soil by working with country plough.
Well decomposed poultry manure @ 5 tonnes/ha may also be applied to improve the physical properties of soil and grain yield.

Forming Flat Beds

To conserve moisture normally rainfed sorghum is sown in flat beds.
Form flat beds of 10 sq. m or 20 sq. m using bund former.
Furrows can be formed between crop rows during intercultivation or during third week after sowing.

Application Of Fertilizers

Rainfed crop requires only nitrogen and phosphorus.
Apply basally 40 kg nitrogen and 20 kg phosphorus per hectare.
Mark lines to a depth of 5 cm and 45 cm apart and place the fertilizer mixer along the lines.

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.

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

Varieties

CO 21, CO 26, CO 25, K Tall, K 5, K 8, COH 3

Coimbatore

Adipattam - CO 21, CO 25, CO 26 (June - July) ·
Puratasipattam - CO 21, CO 25, CO 26 (September - October)

Erode

Adipattam - CO 21, CO 25, CO 26, Paiyur 2
Puratasipattam - CO 21, CO 25, CO 26, Paiyur 2

Madurai,Dindigul,Theni

Adipattam - CO 21, CO 26, K 5, K 8, COH 3, APK 1
Puratasipattam - CO 21, CO 26, K 8, K Tall, APK 1

Ramanathapuram,Sivaganga,Virudhunagar

Adipattam - CO 21, K 8, COH 3
Puratasipattam - CO 25, CO 26, K 5, K 8, K Tall, APK 1

Tirunelveli,Thoothukudi

Adipattam - CO 21, CO 25, CO 26, K 8, K Tall, APK 1
Puratasipattam - CO 25, CO 26, K 8, K Tall, APK 1

Tiruchirapalli,Karur,Perambalur

Adipattam - CO 25, CO 26, K 5, K Tall, COH 3
Puratasipattam - CO 25, CO 26, K Tall

Salem,Namakkal

Adipattam - Paiyur 1, Paiyur 2
Puratasipattam - CO 21, CO 25, CO 26, Paiyur 2

Dharmapuri

Adipattam - CO 26
Puratasipattam - CO 21, CO 25, CO 26, Paiyur 1, Paiyur 2

Weed Management

Grasses

Arugampul (Hariali grass)	Cynodon dactylon
Mathangipul	Dactyloctenium aegyptium
Arisipul	Digitaria sanguinalis
Kunjampul	Chloris barbata
Ingipul	Panicum repens

Sedges

Korai (Nutgrass)	Cyperus rotundus

Broad Leaved

Saranai	Trianthema portulocastrum
Kuppaikerai	Amaranthus viridis
Vettukayapoodu	Tridax procumbens
Congress weed	Parthenium hysterophorus
Nai thulasi	Ocimum canum
Kuppaimeni	Acalypha indica
Aduthinna palai	Aristolochia bracteata
Nerungi	Tribulus terrestris
Oomathai	Datura fastuosa

Control Measures

Manual

Remove the weeds by hand hoeing between 2nd week and 5th week after germination

Chemical

If sufficient moisture is available spray Atrazine @ 500 g/ha as pre-emergence application within three days after rainfall for sole sorghum crop
If sorghum is intercropped with pulses spray Pendamethalin @ 3.0 litres / ha.

Application Technique

Apply the herbicide on soil surface using Backpack or Knapsack or Rocker sprayer fitted with a flat fan nozzle using 900 litres of water /ha.

Precautions

If pulse crop is intercropped with sorghum do not use Atrazine, use Pendimethalin at 3 lit/ha.
Soil should be moist when weedicide is applied.
Use a sprayer exclusively for herbicides.
Do not walk over herbicide sprayed area because the weeds in walked areas may not be covered properly by herbicide and the effect will be reduced.

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Forage Sorghum

Sorghum for green forage is grown in 3.0 m ha in many states in India.
Almost 60-70% of total forage demand is met from sorghum.
Sorghum is an ideal forage crop because of faster growth, high yielding ability, high dry matter content, leafiness, wider adaptability and drought resistance.
It is also suitable for silage and hay making and thus supplement the fodder supply during lean season.

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Cultivation of Irrigated Fodder Sorghum

Land Prepartion

Ploughing

Plough the field with an iron plough once and twice with a country plough. Fine tilth is not needed as it affects germination and yield.
In soils with sub-soil hard pan, chiselling should be done every year at the start of each season. After chiselling, plough once with disc plough and twice with cultivator.

Application Of FYM

Spread FYM @ 12.5 tonnes/ha or composted coir pith along with 2kg of Azospirillum (10 packets/ha) on the unploughed field and incorporate the manure in soil by working with country plough.
Well decomposed poultry manure @ 5 tonnes/ha may also be applied to improve the physical properties of soil and grain yield.

Forming Ridges And Furrows

Form ridges and furrows of 6m long and 30 cm apart.
Form irrigation channels across furrows.
If ridges and furrows are not made, form beds of size 20 m2 depending on availability of water.

Application Of Fertilizers

The recommended dose is 60,40,20 kg of NPK/ha.
Apply half the dose of nitrogen and full dose of phosphorus and potash basally before sowing.

Crop Establishment

Sowing Seed rate is 40 kg/ha. Treat the seeds with three packets of Azospirillum /ha.
Sow the seeds over the lines where fertilizers are placed at a depth of 2cm and cover with soil.

Intercrop

Fodder sorghum can be intercropped with CO 5 cowpea at 1:1 ratio. Both the crops can be harvested together.

Seasons

Irrigated : January - February and April -May.
Rainfed : June - July and September - October

Varieties

Irrigated	All districts	CO 11,CO 27.
Rainfed (June -July)	Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Salem, Namakkal, Dharmapuri, Perambalur, Karur,Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Coimbatore, Erode, Nagapattinum, Pudukottai, Tiruchirappalli	CO11, CO 27
Rainfed (September - October)	Madurai, Dindugal, Theni, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar,Sivagangai, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi	K7, CO 27, K 10

Water Management

Irrigate immediately after/sowing. Give life irrigation on third day. Thereafter irrigate once in 10 days.

Top Dressing Nitrogen

Apply balance of 30 kg nitrogen/ha 30 days after sowing and irrigate

Insect Management

Shoot fly

Spray any one of the following insecticides 10 and 17 days after sowing using 250 litres of water.
Endosulfan 35 EC 500 ml/ha Methyldemeton 25 EC 500ml/ha Dimethoate 30 EC 500 ml/ha

Stem Borer

Apply any one of the insecticides on the foliage 30 days after sowing.
Use 500 litres of spray fluid /ha Endosulfan 35 EC 750ml/ha Carbaryl 50 WP 1.0 kg/ha or apply any one of the following dusts mixed with sand to make up a total quantity of 50 kg in the leaf whorl.
Carbaryl 10 D 10 kg/ha Endosulfan 4 D 10 kg/ha Avoid spraying and dusting in fodder sorghum 30 days after sowing.
Weed Management

Weed Management

Grasses

Arugampul (Hariali grass)	Cynodon dactylon
Mathangipul	Dactyloctenium aegyptium
Arisipul	Digitaria sanguinalis
Kunjampul	Chloris barbata
Ingipul	Panicum repens

Sedges

Korai (Nutgrass)	Cyperus rotundus

Broad Leaved

Saranai	Trianthema portulocastrum
Kuppaikerai	Amaranthus viridis
Vettukayapoodu	Tridax procumbens
Congress weed	Parthenium hysterophorus
Nai thulasi	Ocimum canum
Kuppaimeni	Acalypha indica
Aduthinna palai	Aristolochia bracteata
Nerungi	Tribulus terrestris
Oomathai	Datura fastuosa

Control Measures

Remove the weeds by hand hoeing 20 days after sowing. Second hand weeding can be done between 35-40 days after sowing if necessary.

Harvesting

Single cut varieties can be harvested 60-65 days after sowing. If it is multicut, first cutting is done 60 dyas after sowing.
Second cut is given 40 days after first. In multicut varieties harvest 5 cm above ground level.

Storage

Preparation Of Silage Silage is pickled green fodder, highly palatable and digestable.
Dug out a pit in the soil. Size of the pit depends on number of animals, period of feeding and availability of fodder.
Generally 15 kg of silage can be stored in the pit having the size of one cubic foot.
Walls of the pit and bottom can be plastered with cement.
Chopped green fodder should be filled layer wise and each layer should be well trampled to expel air.
Fill the silo 2-3 feet above the ground level, cover with plastic sheet and finally plaster with mud.

Hay or Sraw Preparation

Hay is prepared after drying the green plants. Pre-flowering stage is ideal for making hay.
At this stage sorghum is soft, palatable and rich in protein, carotene and minerals. After harvests, plants are bundled weighing 5-10 kg.
Bundles are kept in erect position in groups of 6-8 and sun dried. After drying the hay is stacked

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Tamilnadu

Sorghum

About Sorghum

History
Morphology

Sorghum Management

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