Programme- B.

Sc (Agriculture)

Course - Field Crops-I

Course Code- BSCAG-211

Semester - IIIrd

Year- 2020-21

Unit- 1 (Part-6)

Topic- Cultivation of Sorghum and Bajra

Sub-Topic- Importance, origin, History, Distribution, Climate, Soil, Season,

Land preparation, varieties, Land Preparation, Seeds and Sowing,
Weed Management, Manure and Fertilizer Application, Water
Management, Cropping Systems, Crop Protection, Harvesting, Yield,

Faculty- Mr. Rajeev Kumar

E-mail- r.k.sharma198510@[Link]

JOWAR OR SORGHUM
Botanical Name- Sorghum bicolor
Family- Poaceae
2n=20
It belongs to family Poaceae and genus sorghum. Sorghum is one of the major food crops of the world,
particularly Africa and Asia. In India, it ranks third in major food crop, especially central and peninsular India. It
is used in various forms, similar to rice as cooked food, malted, flour for dosai and making chapatti or rotti,
popped, semolina etc. It is a very good dry and green fodder and a good concentrate feed for cattle and poultry.
Raw material is used for starch Industries. It is used in production of alcohol similar to corn and used for
preparation of sorghum syrup (20–25% sugar) from sweet sorghum varieties. It is also used for production of
Jaggery. It contains high amount of aconitic acid, which prevents the crystallization of sugar. It contains 72.6%
carbohydrate, 10–12% protein, 3% fat, 1.6% mineral and contains more of fibre. It has the capacity to
withstand drought or excess moisture (92% of sorghum is grown under rainfed). It comes up well even in
marginal soil under moisture stress. It does well in low rainfall areas. It makes comparatively quick growth
than maize. It is dormant during stress condition and it resumes its growth, when optimum condition occurs.
  Undesirable qualities: It contains high amount of Niacin, which interface with the synthesis of
Tryptophane, which is the precursor for synthesis of IAA. “Pellagara” is nutritional disorder due to
presence of high amount of Leucine: iso-leucine ratio (3.4). When it is reduced, yield is also reduced.
This disease is common in Africa. It contains considerable amount of oxalic acid, which interface
with absorption of Ca and metabolism of Ca. Phytin ‘P’ is not utilized due to high oxalic acid. Oxalic
acid also affects the Fe uptake. Low digestibility and low palatability is due to presence of phenolic
compounds and glycosides, tannin and lignin. Sorghum contains “cynogenic glucoside” called
‘Dhurin’. This glucoside is converted into HCN in the stomach of ruminants. It causes bloating and
reduce the transfer of O2 to the blood steam and causes death of the animal. It is called “sorghum
poisoning”/(sorghum effect). HCN content is more than 100 ppm in the early stage. Critical level
is 50 ppm. It (50 ppm) normally occurs during 60-65 DAS or at heading stage. If it is harvested
earlier, it should be dried and fed to cattle. “Sorghum injury”—Sorghum stubbles/roots have high
C:N ratio (50:1), i.e., it contains low amount of ‘N’. Hence, microbes take the soil ‘N’ for
decomposition than from the decomposed stubble, which causes temporary immobilization of soil
‘N’. Hence, succeeding crop after sorghum is affected due to N deficiency in the early stage called
sorghum injury. Succeeding crops need higher N.
 Origin:
Warth (1937): Africa and Decandolle (1984): Abyssinia.

 Classification: Harlen and De-Wet (1971), gave a modified and simple classification based on
spikelet type.
 Basic races:
1. Bicolor, 2. Guinea, 3. Caudatum, 4. Kafir, 5. Durra. Now cultivated sorghum is Sorghum
biclor.
 Hybrid races:
Guinea bicolor, Caudatum bicolor etc.

 Climate:
It is a short day C4 plant. Long day condition delays flowering and maturity. It is a warm weather plant and is
grown even in 1500 m from MSL. It can tolerate high temperature throughout their life cycle, better than any
other cereal. It is highly resistant to desiccation. It can tolerate water logging. Low temperature at flowering
affects the seed set. Rainfall at maturity affects the quality of grain. Low temperature with cloudy weather at
flowering induces sugary disease.
 Soil:
It is grown under variety of soil. Soil with clay loam or loamy texture having good water retention is best
suited. It does not thrive in sandy soils, but does better in heavier soils. It does well in pH range of 6.0–8.5 as it
tolerates considerable salinity and alkalinity. The black cotton soils of Central India are very good for its
cultivation.
  Area, Production and Productivity:
The World production is 147 m.t. and it is cultivated in USA, Brazil, Argentina, China and India. In India, it is
staple food crop of north Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
In India, it is cultivated in an area of 11.5 [Link]. with a production of 11.08 m.t. and a productivity of 950
kg/ha. In India, 92.0% of the area is under rainfed. It is mainly grown as kharif crop and smaller extent as rabi
crop in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. In Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya
Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, sorghum is grown in both kharif and rabi. The area under cultivation is high in
Maharashtra followed by Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. At present, Maharashtra has the
largest area accounting 43% of Indian area under sorghum and 51% of total production. In Tamil Nadu, it is
cultivated in an area of 5.06 lakh ha with a production of 4.86 lakh t and productivity of 960 kg/ha and it is
largely grown in Trichy, Coimbatore, Salem, Dharmapuri, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Vellore and Erode districts. In
Tamil Nadu, 85% of area is under rainfed and 15% is irrigated.
 Rainfed Sorghum
 Rainfall:
Average and well distributed rainfall of 250–300 mm is optimum for rainfed sorghum.
 Season:
 SWM: Entire north India, it is grown as “Kharif crop” (June-July)
 Rabi: North India (October)
 Field preparation:
Field has to be prepared well in advance taking advantage of early showers. FYM @) 12.5 t/ha is applied at
last ploughing. Chiselling is recommended to break hardpan once in three years. Depending on the rainfall and
soil type, different land shaping methods may be adopted for conservation of the moisture. Black soil having
high rainfall areas, formation of broad bed and furrow is recommended. In black soils having low rainfall, form
compartmental bunding or sow the seeds in flat bed and form furrows between crops during inter cultivation or
during third week after sowing for both the soil types or form dead furrow at 3 m interval.
 Varieties:
All India Co-ordinated sorghum Improvement Project (AICSIP) developed 15 sorghum varieties (CSV 1 to
CSV 15) and 18 hybrids (CSH 1 to CSH 18 R). CSH 1, CSH 6 and CSH 9 are best for kharif season. CSH 15
R and 18 R is best for rabi season. The hybrids and varieties recommended for different parts of rainfed region
in India are given in Table 1
Table 1. Hybrids /Varieties Recommended

Hybrids/Varieties Season Grain yield (t/ha)

Dry fodder yield
Duration (days)
(t/ha)
Hybrids
CSH-1 3.0 95–100
CSH-6 3.4 95–100
CSH-9 Kharif (June-July) 3.9 105–110
CSH-11 4.1 105–110
CSH-13 3.9 105–110
 CSH-16 4.2 110
CSH-17 4.2 103
CSH-18 4.1 112
Varieties
CSV 11 3.2 110–115
SPV 462–CO 26 Kharif (June-July) 3.3 110–115
CSV 15 3.6 107–112
Hybrids
Rabi (October-
CSH 13R CSH 3.2 5.4 113
November)
3.2 5.6 110
Varieties
CSV 14R Rabi 2.3 5.5 117
CSV 8R (October- November) 2.2 4.8 120
Swati 2.2 5.3 117

Table 2. Variety Details

Variety Duration (days) Grain yield (t/ha) Fodder yield (t/ha)

CO 26 105–110 4.5 14.00
K10 110–115 1.6 16.00
CO 25 115–120 3.68 13.25
K tall 90 3.75 11.25
K8 85 2.4 7.30
APK 1 105–110 2.60 8.00
BSR 1 105–110 3.00 7.20

 Seed rate: The seed rate is 15 kg/ha.

 Seed treatment:
For seed hardening, the seeds are soaked in 2% KH2PO4 or 500 ppm of CCC/cycocel for six hours and shade
dried for 5 hrs. Using 350 ml of solution is sufficient for soaking 1 kg of seed. It is a method by which drought
tolerance is induced in plants by soaking the seeds in weak electrolytes or salt solution. Seed treatment is done
with Azospirillum and phosphobacteria each 3 pockets (600 gm). In main field, application of 2 kg of
Azospirillum and 2 kg of phosphobacteria with 25 kg of FYM + 25 kg of soil is recommended. Then, the seeds
are treated with Thiram/Bavistin @ 2 g/kg of seeds. If possible, the seed is palletized with 15 g of chlorpyriphos
in 150 ml of gum before sowing and seeds are dried.
 Sowing:
The seeds are sown before onset of monsoon at 5 cm depth with seed cum fertilizer drill or by seed drill or by
country plough. Pre monsoon sowing/dry seeding i.e., sowing a week or 2 weeks before on set of monsoon.
  Spacing:
The spacing for sole crop of sorghum is 45 × 15/10 cm (1,80,000 plants/ha) and 60/30 × 15 cm for
intercropping and paired row system.
 Manuring:
Application of FYM or compost at 12.5 t/ha during last ploughing is recommended. Application of NPK at
[Link] kg/ha is recommended. ‘P and K’ is applied basally as enriched FYM. ‘N’ may be applied in two splits
viz., 50% basal and 50% at 25 DAS depending upon the rainfall. In high rainfall areas of north India where
sorghum is grown during SWM (kharif season), the recommended NPK is: [Link] kg/ha where 50% N, and
entire P and K should be applied as basal, remaining 50% N as top dressing at 25–30 DAS depending on the
rainfall. During rabi season, the recommended application of NPK is [Link] kg/ha. Entire fertilizer is applied
as basal by drilling method.
 Growth stages:
There are five growth stages.
1. Seedling stage : 1–15 days
2. Vegetative stage (Grand growth (30–40)) : 16–40 days
3. Flowering/Reproductive stage : 41–65 days
4. Maturity : 66–95 days
5. Ripening : 96–105 days
 Weed management:
Keeping the sorghum fields free of weeds from 2nd week after germination till 5th week is good. If sufficient
moisture is available, spraying atrazine @ 500 g/ha (atrazine 0.25 kg/ha) as pre-emergence within three days
after receipt of soaking rain followed by one late hand weeding/inter cultural operation may be done. For
sorghum based intercropping system with pulses, pre-emergence application of pendimethalin (Stomp 30 EC)
at 3.0 lit/ha followed by one hand weeding at 35 DAS is recommended.
 Striga:
There are three species of striga viz., Striga asiatica, S. lutea, S. hermonthica (witch weed). It is a semi-root
parasite in sorghum and reduces the yield markedly. The control measures for striga in sorghum are as follows:

 Post emergence application of 2,4-D Na salt at 2.0 kg/ha at 25–30 DAS.

 Intercropping with red gram.
 Crop rotation with trap crops like cotton, sunflower, groundnut, cowpea, etc., which induce germination
of weed seeds, but they are not themselves parasitized.
 Heavy application of N and FYM and flooding the field.
 Spraying Urea 10% solution on 25–30 DAS.
 Using germination stimulants like Strigol and ethylene gas.
 Cropping system:
The important intercropping systems in Tamil Nadu are given below:

Southern districts Sorghum + cowpea (2:1); sorghum + black gram (2:1) Coimbatore
Sorghum + green gram (4:2); sorghum + sunflower (4:2)
Aruppukottai Sorghum + fodder cowpea (1:1)
Dharmapuri Sorghum + lab-lab (4:1); sorghum + red gram (3:1) In north India, the
important systems during kharif season (SWM) are given below:
 Sorghum + red gram at 3:1 ratio
Sorghum + soybean at 4:2 ratio
Sorghum + green gram at 4:2 ratio.
 Thinning:
Thinning should be completed 10–15 days after emergence leaving one plant per hill.
 Harvesting and Threshing:
Most of the high yielding varieties and hybrids mature in about 100–115 days. The right stage for harvest is,
when the grain becomes hard having less than 25% moisture. Do not wait for stubble and leaves to dry, because
hybrid sorghum appears green even after the crop is matured. Harvest may be done at physiological maturity.
Harvesting is done by cutting the entire plant or removing the ear heads first and cutting down the plants later
and is allowed to dry for 2–5 days. Threshing is done with the help of thresher or beating the ear heads. The
threshed grain is dried in the sun for a week to bring the moisture content to 10–12% for safe storage.
 Yield:
The grain yield varies from 2–3 t/ha under rainfed conditions and the dry stover yield varies from 8–10 t/ha.
 Irrigated Sorghum
It is raised by either direct seeding or transplanting. Irrigated transplanted crop has advantages like main field
duration is reduced by 10 days; shoot fly attacks will be economically controlled in the nursery; seedlings
which show chlorotic and downy mildew symptoms can be eliminated; optimum population can be maintained
as only healthy seedlings are used and seed rate is reduced by 2.5 kg/ha.
 Varieties:
CO 25 (115–120 days, grain yield of 6.0 t/ha, straw yield of 17.5 t/ha), CO 26 (105–110 days, grain yield of
6.0 t/ha, straw yield of 19.0 t/ha), BSR 1 (105–110 days, grain yield of 6–6.5 t/ha, straw yield of 9.6 t/ha).
 Hybrids: CSH 5 (100 days, grain yield of 4.5 t/ha, straw yield of 12.5 t/ha), COH 4 (105–110 days,
grain yield of 6.5 t/ha, straw yield of 20.0 t/ha), COH 5 (100 days, grain yield of 6.8 t/ha, straw yield of
19.0 t/ha).
 Seed rate: The seed rate for direct sowing is 10 kg/ha and 7.5 kg/ha for transplanting.
 Nursery
 Preparation: For planting one ha, about 7.5 cent (300 m2) nursery area is required, near the water
source. Application of 750 kg of FYM or compost for 7.5 cent nursery is done and another 500 kg for
covering the seeds after sowing is used. Forming raised beds of 2 m × 1.5 m with 30 cm spacing to a
depth of 15 cm is done. Pre treatment of seeds for both direct seeded crop and raising in the nursery is
must. The seeds are treated 24 hours before sowing with carbendazim/ captan/thiram @ 2 g/kg of seed.
And then, the seeds are treated with 2% KH2PO4 for 6 hours and shade dried for 5 hours. The seeds are
treated with 3 pockets of Azospirillum (600 g/ha) using rice kanji as binder.
 Sowing: Forming rills using fingers, broad casting the seeds and covering with 500 kg of FYM is done.
 Irrigation: Irrigations are given immediately after sowing, 3rd day, 7thday, 12th day and 17th day
(Totally five irrigations).
 Transplanting: Age of seedling is 15-18 days. The seedlings are dipped in Azospirillum solu- tion (5
pockets -1000 g) dissolved in 40 lit. of water) for 15-30 minutes. Planting at 45 × 15 cm spacing at a
depth of 3–5 cm with one seedling per hill on the side of ridge is done.
  Main field preparation (direct seeded and transplanted crop:
Sorghum does not require fine tilth. The field is ploughed with an iron plough once and twice with a country
plough. To overcome the sub soil hard pan in Alfisol, chiseling the field at 0.5 m interval to a depth of 40 cm on
both the direction of the field followed by disc ploughing once and cultivator ploughing twice is done.
Application of 12.5 t FYM or compost/ha with 2 kg of Azospirillum (10 pockets/ha) is recommended. Ridges
and furrows are formed at 45 cm apart using ridge plough.

 Fertilizer management
 Transplanted crop: If soil test recommendation is not available, the blanket recommendation of
[Link] kg NPK/ha is recommended. 50% N and entire P and K should be applied basally before
planting and remaining 50%N is applied on 15 DAS.
 Direct seeded crop: Blanket recommendation of [Link] kg NPK/ha is followed. Application of 50%
N, and entire P and K should be applied basally and the remaining 50% N on 25–30 DAS.
 Micronutrient: For Zn deficient soils, 25 kg ZnSO4/ha is applied at the time of sowing/transplanting. If
ZnSO4 is not applied basally and if Zn deficiency is noticed, ZnSO4 at 0.5% concentration is sprayed.
 For Fe deficient soils, 50 kg FeSO4 is applied at sowing or at planting. If FeSO4 is not applied basally,
FeSO4 1% concentration at 2 or 3 stages is sprayed.
 Spacing:
The spacing is 45 × 15 cm (1,48,000 plants/ha) for both direct and transplanted crop. For raising intercrop and
paired row system, a spacing of 60/30 × 15 cm may be adopted. Raising one row of pulses in between 60 cm
row spacing is common.
 Thinning and gap filling:
In the direct sown crop, thinning one seeding per hill and gap filling the thinned out seedlings is done on 10–
15 DAS, maintaining a spacing of 15 cm between plants.
 Weed management:
Sorghum is slow growing in the early stage and is adversely affected by weed competition. Keeping the fields
free of weeds up to 45 days is good. Pre-emergence herbicide Atrazine 50 WP at 500 g/ha (atrazine 0.25 kg/ha) on 3
DAS using high volume sprayer followed by one hand weeding on 30–35 DAS is recommended. If pulse crop is
raised as intercrop, do not use atrazine. If herbicide is not used, for transplanted crop, two hoeing and weeding
on 10 and 30–35 DAS should be done. In the case of direct seeded crop, two hand weeding on 15–20 DAS
and 35–40 DAS should be done.
 Water management:
Total water requirement is 450–500 mm. Irrigation at 50% depletion of available soil moisture or 0.6 IW/CPE
ratio is sufficient. There are four critical stages viz., (1) seedling, (2) vegetative, (3) flowering, (4) dough stages.
Stress at one week before and one week after flowering is very critical. Under moisture stress condition, 5
irrigations are sufficient. For normal condition, 8 irrigations are to be given i.e. on 1st day, 4th day, 15th, 28th,
40th, 53th, 64th, 76th and 88th days. Irrigation should be stopped after 88–90 DAS. As contingent plan,
spraying 3% Kaolin (30 g in one litre of water) during periods of stress will mitigate the ill effects.
  Harvesting and processing:
When the crop matures, leaves turn yellow and the grains are hard and firm and moisture content will be less
than 25%. At this stage, the earheads are cut separately and dried for 2–3 days and threshing using mechanical
thresher is done and the grain is dried to 12% moisture for safe storage. The straw is cut after a week and
allowed it to dry and then stacked for fodder.
 Cropping system
Sorghum–Wheat
Sorghum–Pea
Sorghum–Wheat-Moong
Sorghum–Potato-Wheat
 Intercropping
The sorghum crop is intercropped with Cowpea and Green gram.
 Ratoon Sorghum
It is highly amenable for ratooning. The varieties suited for ratooning are CO 25, CO 26, CSH 5 and [Link].
 Ratooning technique:
The main crop is harvested leaving 15 cm stubble in the field and first formed two sprouts are removed from
the main crop and allowed only the latter formed two sprouts to grow. Two tillers per hill are allowed.
 Hoeing and weeding:
The weeds are removed immediately after harvest of main crop. Hoeing and weeding is done on 15th and 30th
day after cutting.
 Application of fertilizers:
Application of [Link] kg NPK/ha is recommended. N is applied in two splits doses viz., 1st dose on 15th day
after cutting and second on 45th day after cutting. P2O5 is applied along with first application of N.
 Pest and disease management:
Since the ratoon crop invites pests and diseases in early stages, plant protection measures have to be resorted
to.
 Water management:
Irrigation is given immediately after cutting the main crop. Irrigation should not be delayed for more than 24
hours after cutting. Then, irrigation is given 3rd or 4th day after cutting and subsequent irrigations are given
once in 7–10 days. Irrigation is stopped 70–80 days after ratooning.

 Harvest:
Similar to sown crop but duration is 10–15 days lesser than main crop.
 Yield:
Yield is equal or slightly higher than sown crop.
 PEARL MILLET (BAJRA)
Botanical Name- Pennisetum americanum Leeke
Family- Poaceae
2n=14,18
It is a stable food crop of about 100 million peoples in rural areas of India and Sub Saharan Africa.
Roti or Chapatti, which are unleaved flat breads prepared using pearl millet flour are common in
Asia. Porridges and cooked grains are also used. In northern India, it is prepared during winter while
wheat becomes common in summer diet. It is also used for fried preparations, foods such as
fermented products and beer. Varieties of pancakes are prepared using pearl millet flour in Africa
and pearl millet beer is used throughout Africa. Fura or cheese is the traditional African snacks
prepared using steamed pearl millet flour and cream. It is used as fodder in Africa and Asia. Oxalic
acid content is very high. So it is not relished by cattle. It is rich in protein (12.6%) and fat (5%),
fibre (1.2%) and 60–70% of Carbohydrate. It is normally rich in Ca, Vitamin Riboflavin and
Carotenoides. In Central America, it is mainly cultivated for forage purpose. It is also grown as
pasture grass. 150 sps. of Pennesitum,
P. glaucum is the cultivated species for grain and P. purpurea is the forage species.

 Origin- Africa
 Area, Production and Distribution:
It is largely grown in India. The important pearl millet producing countries are India, Africa, Pakistan,
China, Sudan and Egypt. In India, it is cultivated in an area of 10 [Link] with a production of 7.9 m.t
and productivity of 791 kg/ha. Area under cultivation is high in Rajasthan, followed by Maharashtra,
Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. The production is more in Rajasthan, followed by Maharastra, Gujarat,
Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
 Stages:
There are four crop stages namely seedling stage (1–18 days), Tillering stage (19–35 days), Flowering
phase (36–55 days) and Maturity phase (56–85 days)
 Climate:
It is a rapid growing, warm weather crop and it has resistance for drought. The best temperature is
between 20 and 28°C. It can withstand even desiccation. It is highly suitable for the areas having
rainfall ranges from 400–750 mm. Even 150 mm of rainfall is sufficient. Rainfall during veg- etative
phase is highly favourable, while rainfall at flowering is not conducive, as it washes off the pollen and
there is a poor seed setting. The crop grows better in light showers followed by bright sunshine.
Usually bajra is grown, where it is not possible to grow sorghum because of high temperature and low
rainfall. It is grown as kharif crop in Northern India, while in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Punjab, it is
grown under irrigated condition during summer.
 Soil:
It is grown in a wide variety of soils, but being sensitive to water logging. It grows well in well drained
sandy loams. It is sensitive to acidic soil. It is grown successfully in black cotton soil, alluvial soils
and red soils of India.
  Time of sowing:
In India, it is grown in three seasons viz., kharif (rainfed-June–October), winter (rainfed–November-
February) and summer (rain fed–March-June). During summer, it is grown in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,
Punjab and Gujarat as an irrigated crop.
 Hybrids:
Under All India Co-ordinated Research project, many hybrids have been developed. Using
Cytoplasmic male sterile line (CMS line), five hybrids have been developed. Among them, HB-3 is
the best. But all hybrids are susceptible to downy mildew. To overcome the downy mildew, CMS line
MS.5071 was used and five New Hybrid bajra were developed. Among them, NHB.5 is the best for
disease resistance and wide adaptability besides giving higher yield. In Tamil Nadu, using CMS line
MS 5141 A, two hybrids X 6 and X 7 were evolved and are recommended for cultivation.
X6: 90–100 days, irrigated crop yields 3236 kg/ha and rainfed crop yields 2394 kg/ha. It is
resistant to downy mildew.
X7: 90 days, irrigated crop yields 3295 kg/ha and rainfed crop yields 2513 kg/ha. It is resistant
to downy mildew.
 Composite: WCC 75 (World Cumbu Composite developed at ICRISAT, Hyderabad) is suited for
both irrigated and rainfed. Duration is 95 days. Irrigated crop yields 3.0 t and rainfed crop yields
2.0 t/ha.
Variety: CO 7–90–100 days duration. Rainfed crop yields 2.5 t/ha and irrigated crop yields
3.5 t/ha. It is resistant to downy mildew.
K3: 85 days duration.
 Method of Raising
 Irrigated condition: (a) Raising seedling in the Nursery and transplanting. (b) Direct
sowing.
 Rainfed crop: Direct seeding either broadcasting or sowing behind country plough.
 Seed Rate and Seed Treatment
The seed rate for direct sowing is 5 kg/ha and for transplanting, it is 3.75 kg/ha. Ergot affected seeds
are removed using salt solution (1 kg of NaCl in 10 lit of water), to prevent primary infections and
shade dried. Seed treatment is done with fungicides-captan or thiram 2 g/kg of seed, followed by
Azospirillum seed treatment (3 pockets or 600 g/ha seed rate).
 Transplanted Crop
 Nursery preparation: Nursery area required is 7.5 cents (300 m2 ) for one ha. The land is
ploughed in such a way to bring fine tilth. Application of 750 kg of FYM or compost is done
and incorporated. Raised beds of 3.0 m × 1.5m with 30 cm channel are formed. Small rills
not deeper than 1 cm on the raised bed are opened. About 3.75 kg of seeds is sown in 7.5
cents at 0.5 kg/cent and 500 kg of FYM or compost is used for sprinkling for covering the
seeds.
 Irrigation Light soil Heavy soil
1st immediately after immediately after
sowing sowing
2nd 3rd DAS 3rd DAS
3rd 7th day 9th day
4th 12th day 16th day
5th 17th day

 Field preparation for both irrigated and rainfed crop:

Deep ploughing with Iron plough and country plough is to be done twice to bring fine tilth. If there is
hard pan, chisel ploughing is done. About 12.5 t/ha of FYM or compost is applied during last
ploughing. Application of Azospirillum to the soil is done @ 10 packets/ha (2 kg).
 Land Shaping:
For irrigated crop (transplanting), either ridges and furrows at 45 cm apart or beds of convenient size
depending upon the water availability are formed. For rainfed crop, flat sowing is followed. For
rainfed crop, Pora method of sowing is better than Kera method.
 Transplanting:
Pull out of the seedlings is recommended when age of seedling is 15–18 days. A spacing of 45 × 15
cm for all the varieties except CO 7 is adopted. For CO 7, spacing is 35 × 15 cm (similar row spacing
is adopted for rainfed crop also). Dipping the roots in bio-fertilizer Slurry (dis- solve 5 pockets of
Azospirillum in 40 lit. of water) for 15–30 minutes may be done. Planting one seedling/hill to a depth
of 3–5 cm is recommended.
 Direct sown crop:
Soaking the seed in 2% potassium chloride or 3% NaCl for 6 hours followed by shade drying for 5
hours is done. As in transplanted crop, a spacing of 45 × 15 cm for all varieties except CO 7 and for
CO 7, 35 × 15 cm row spacing is adopted. If pulse is intercropped, a spacing of 35 × 15 cm for cumbu
and 30 × 10 cm for cowpea and other pulses is adopted. Seed rate is 5 kg/ha.
 Fertilizer management:
If soil test recommendation is not available, the blanket recommendation is followed as given below:
 Irrigated crop: Hybrids 80: 40: 40 kg N: P2O5: K2O/ha.
Varieties 70: 35: 35 kg N: P2O5 : K2O/ha.
 Rainfed crop: 40: 20: 0 kg N: P2O5 : K2O/ha.
Application of 50% N and 100% P and K is recommended as basal at 5 cm depth and the remaining 50%
N at 15 days after planting for transplanted crop and 30 DAS for direct sown crop is applied. It
removes about 90 kg N, 20–25 kg, P2 O5 and 160 kg K2O. For Zn deficient soil, application of ZnSO4
at 25 kg/ha is done. Iron deficiency occurs in saline and calcareous soil. Based on the level of
deficiency, 12.5–25 kg of FeSO4 is recommended. If it is not applied basally, foliar application of
1% FeSO4 at vegetative phase is recommended.

 Water management:
It is a highly drought tolerant crop and water requirement is 300–350 mm. Irrigation at available soil
moisture of 50% or optimum IW/CPE ratio 0.4 is sufficient. The critical stages are tillering and
flowering. Normally 5 irrigations are recommended for the stages viz., tillering, panicle initiation, flag
leaf, flowering, dough stages in addition to sowing irrigation. Under limited moisture conditions, three
irrigations can be recommended for panicle initiation, flag leaf and flowering in addition to sowing
irrigation.

 Thinning and gap filling:

In the direct sown crop, after 1st weeding at the time of irrigation, gap filling and thinning is done to a
spacing of 15 cm between plants. In rainfed crop, thinning should be done 10-15 DAS.

 Weed management:
Weed reduces the yield by 50%. Crop weed competition is up to 35 days. Pre-emergence application of
atrazine at 500 g/ha followed by hand weeding on 30–35 days after transplanting or sowing. If the
herbicide is not used, weeding is done on 15th day and again between 30 and 35 days after
transplanting. For direct sown crop, hoeing and weeding may be done on 20–25 DAS and second
weeding on 35–40 DAS. Atrazine should not be used for intercropping systems.

 Cropping system: Some of the important crop rotations are:

1. Bajra – Barley Intercropping system in North India
2. Bajra – Wheat Bajra + Groundnut
3. Bajra – Gram Bajra + Black gram
4. Bajra – Pea Bajra + Green gram
 Harvesting and Threshing:
When the leaves turned yellow colour and when the seeds become hardened and having 20% moisture,
harvesting is done by removing the earheads first and cutting down the plants latter on. The ear heads
after harvesting should be dried well in sun before threshing. The grains are separated either by beating
the ear heads by sticks or by trampling by bullocks. If mechanical thresher is available, thresh it or
spread it and drag a stoneroller over it. The threshed grain should be cleaned and dried in the sun to
bring the moisture to 12–14% for safe storage.
Yield Grain yield (t/ha) Stover yield (t/ha)
Irrigated 3.0–3.5 10.0
Rainfed 1.2–1.5 7–7.5

Reference Books

1. Modern techniques of raising field crops Chhidda Singh.

2. Kharif crops. Omprakash and Ahlawat
3. Crop production Nazir M. S.
4. Principles of field crop production Reddy, S.R.