PRODUCTION

TECHNOLOGY OF
SORGHUM

ABDUL SAMI
2009-AG-2412
CONTENT
 History
 Plant Description
 Climate and Soil
 Seed Bed Preparation
 Manuring
 Verities
 Method of Sowing
 Seed Rate
CONT………….
 Inter Cultural Practices
 Manuring
 Irrigation
 Pest and Disease
 Time of Harvesting
 Importance
 Causes of low yield
Botanical Name:Sorghumbicolor (L)

Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Panicoideae
Genus: Sorghum L.
 HISTORY
• Native to the tropical areas in Africa
• The oldest cultivation record dates back to 3000 B.C. in Egypt
• The original variety of sorghum was purple or red and the seed coat was red
• In the 1950s hybrid sorghums were developed for higher yields
 DESCRIPTION
 Local names are “jawar” , “chari”
 Self-pollinating plant
 Height of plant 60-460 cm
 Sorghum leaves are 50-100 mm wide and 0.5-
0.8 m long.
 Sorghum seed is small and round
 The long, wide leaves grow off the stalk
CLIMATE AND SOIL
 Sorghum is tropical plant
 More drought and temperature resistant
 Can grow on all types of soils except saline and waterlogged
 Heavy, loamy soils are most suitable
 Prefers hot, dry climate
 Does not grow well in areas with high summer rainfall
SEEDBED
PREPARATION

 Requires good seedbed

 Which can be prepared with 1 ploughing with mouldboard plough
 Followed by 2 ploughings with cultivator along with planking
MANURING

 20-25 kg N
 35-65 kg P2O5
 30-45 kg K2O Per hectare

1.25 bag of Urea at First Irrigation

 VARIETIES
 Hangari
 Jawar no 1
 Jawar no 263,
 ICSV-107
 JS-2002
 DG Parl
METHOD OF SOWING
 Mostly sown by broadcasting
 Recommended method is line sowing (pora method)
 Line to line distance should be 30 cm for fodder crop
 45-60 cm distance between lines in case of seed production
SEED RATE

 32-35 kg/acre for fodder crop

 6-8 kg/acre for grain purpose
 SOWING TIME
In Punjab:
For fodder in March-August
For grain June-July
Sindh:
In June for both fodder and grain
KPK:
During June and July
Baluchistan:
In July and August
INTERCULTURAL
PRACTICES
 Fodder crops don’t require intercultural
 1 hoeing for grain crops in case of line sowing
Irrigation
 3-4 irrigations for March, June crops
 1-2 irrigations for monsoon crops depending upon rainfall
 PESTS AND DISEASES
 Shootfly and borer cause serious damage
 Apply 3% Furadon granules @ 10-12 kg/acre
 Red leaf spot is most serious disease
 Seeds should be treated with Vitavax or Benlate @ 2g/kg of seed
 Light irrigation during disease attack
TIME OF HARVESTING

Best time for

harvesting of fodder
crop is at 50%
heading stage

For seed purpose At this stage fodder

crop is ready in tastes good and is
November free of toxins
SORGHUM PRODUCTION IN PAKISTAN

Country year Area Production

(000 ha) (000 Tonnes)
Pakistan 2008-o9 262.7 164.5
2009-10 248.4 151.1
2010-11 228.8 141
Country Area Production

  (10³ ha) (% total) (10³ ha) (% total)

United States 3 674 8.3 14 516 25.0

India 15300 34.5 12500 21.5

Mexico 1 830 4.1 6 230 10.7

China 1900 4.3 5310 91

Nigeria 6 000 13.5 4 000 6.9

Argentina 688 1.6 2 016 3.5

Sudan 2 925 6.6 1 502 2.6

Ethiopia 870 2.0 1000 1.7

Australia 406 0.9 933 1.6

Burkina Faso 1 250 2.8 917 1.6

Total 34 843 78.6 48 924 84.1

World 44 352 1 00 58190 1 00

LEADING SORGHUM PRODUCERS

Region Area Yield (kg/ha) Production

  (10³ ha) (% total)   (10³ ha) (% total)

Northand Central 5 970 13.5 3 572 21 325 36.7

,
America Source: FAO

Asia 18451 41.6 1 023 18 867 32.4

Africa 17 799 40.1 718 12 784 22.0

South America 1353 3.1 2 614 3 537 6.1

Oceania 407 0.9 2 298 934 1.6

World (2011) 44 352   1 312 58190  

World (2010) 44 695   1 340 59 991  

AREA, YIELD AND PRODUCTION OF SORGHUM BY

REGION
FODDER CROPS IN PAKISTAN
Year Area Production
2005-06 2448.1 55471.5
2006-07 2501.2 56589.3

2007-08 2459.5 55056.7

2008-09 2369.7 53616.4

2009-10 2312.2 51925.4

2010-11 2418.1 54531.9

IMPORTANCE OF
SORGHUM
 Sources of energy and protein
 Grain is used in beer and alcohol production.
 Sorghum white flour is used for flat bread making
 important sources of B-complex vitamins
CAUSES OF LOW YIELD IN PAKISTAN
 Environmental factors
i. soil productivity
ii. Very high or low Temperature
iii. drought
iv. Poor soil fertility
v. High prices of fertilizers

 Agronomic factors
i. Sowing time and method
ii. seed rate
iii. planting geometry
iv. Plant protection measures
v. plant population
vi. irrigation scheduling
vii. Improper method
viii. time and rate of fertilization
ix. High yielding cultivars
x. Improper land preparation
 Policy factors
i. Lack of agri. Research
ii. Lack of coordination between education, research and extension
iii. Poor governance in controlling supply of standard pesticides and fertilizers
 Economic factors
i. Agricultural loans
ii. glut formation of agricultural produce
iii. Black marketing of inputs
iv. exploitation of intermediaries
v. improper access to market
vi. Improper structure of market
 Management factors
i. Post harvest losses
ii. Supply of inputs at proper time, proper place and proper method
iii. Poor storage and transportation facilities
iv. Poor extension services
v. Poor farm mechanization
vi. Small holding of farmers
vii. Unrealistic electricity load shedding
THANK
YOU