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Sorghum

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طه عبد الوهاب خميس
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22 views4 pages

Sorghum

Uploaded by

طه عبد الوهاب خميس
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Sweet Sorghum Production Technologies

Sorghum is the most important millet crop occupying largest area among the cereals next
to rice. It is mainly grown for its grain and fodder. Alternative uses of sorghum include
commercial utilization of grain in food industry and utilization of stalk for the production
of value-added products like ethanol, syrup and jaggery and bioenriched bagasse as a
fodder and as a base material for cogeneration.
Sweet sorghum has emerged as a supplementary crop to sugarcane in dry land pockets for
the production of ethanol. The success rate is high because of the use of existing
machinery available in the sugar factories and attached distilleries. The advantages of the
crop are it can be grown with limited water and minimal inputs and it can be harvested in
four months.

Varieties
Sweet sorghum stalk are juicy and rich in fermentable sugars as high as 15-18 per cent
and has potential for cane yield of 40 t/ha or more. Projected uses of sweet sorghum are
production of alcohol, syrup and jaggery from the stalk juice. The recovery of alcohol in
the pilot run showed 9 percent of the juice having a brix of 12 0. So far SSV 84 is the
only one variety has been released through All India Coordinated Sorghum Improvement
Project by the National Research Centre for Sorghum at Hyderabad.

The important sweet sorghum varieties released at international level are Rio, Dale,
Brandes, Theis, Roma, Vani, Ramada and Keller. BJ 248, RSSV 9, NSSV 208, NSSV
255 and RSSV 56 are the sweet sorghum cultures identified
by the All In dia Coordinated sorghum improvement project
at National level. Hybrid Madhura developed by Nimkar
Agricultural Research Institute, Phaltan, Maharashtra is a
popular hybrid in Sweet Sorghum. The TNAU has developed
a Sweet Sorghum VMS 98003 with a cane yield of 45.7 t/ha
and ethanol yield of 3.6 kl/ha as a promising sweet sorghum
variety for Tamil Nadu and is being tested under Adaptive
Research Trial and will be released soon. Most of these varieties mature in 100-110 days.

Climate and Soil


Sweet sorghum can be sown during June, coinciding with the south-west monsoon,
September October during north east monsoon with a rainfall of 500-600 mm well
distributed across the growing period and also during summer with assured irrigation.
The crop does not prefer high rainfall as high soil moisture or continuous heavy rain after
flowering may hamper sugar increase. If irrigation is available, sowing can be advanced
before June so that the crop does not face heavy rains after flowering and more so during
the last half of grain maturing period. Sowing during summer season may result in low
biomass and sugar yield.
All soils that have medium depth (18" and above) with good drainage are suited.
Depending on the soil (red, black, laterite and loamy) and its depth water requirement
may vary which in turn decide the suitability of the crop.
Seeds and Sowing
For better productivity the optimum spacing should be 45 cm x 15 cm with a seed rate of
10 kg/ha. 2gm/kg of seed. Treat the seeds with 2% KH2PO4 for 6 hours as pre sowing
treatment under rainfed condition. Before sowing, treat the seeds with azospirillum @
600 gm/ha.
Sowing can be done on ridges and furrows at a spacing of 45 cm between rows and 15
cm within rows. Three to four seeds are dibbled in each hill/planting hole and the
seedlings are to be eventually thinned to one per hill. If a planter is used, then the existing
seed rate can be further reduced.
The sowing of the crop is to be adjusted so that the flowering should not be coincide with
rains.

Irrigation and Nutrient management


Irrigation should be based on available soil moisture,
which depends on the type of soil and the rainfall
distribution. Minimum of 6 to 7 irrigations are required
with an interval of 7 -10 days.
Recommended dose of fertilizer for soils with normal
fertility level is 120 kg nitrogen, 40kg phosphorus and 40
kg potassium. Half of N and whole of P and K are applied
as basal. Remaining N is to be top-dressed during 25-30
days after germination, following weeding and inter cultivation.

Weed management
Atrazine @ 0.2 kg ai/ha can be applied as pre emergence herbicide at 3 days after sowing
followed by hand weeding at 45 days after sowing.

Pest management
Major pests are sorghum shootfly and stem borer. Shoot fly
attacks soon after germination up to 30 days. Stem borer
incidence may be at a later stage and continues up to maturity.
Shootfly attack is noted by deadhearts in seedlings and heavy
tillering in affected plants later. Shoot fly is controlled with the
application of Carbofuran 2G @ 8-10 kg ha-1 during planting
either along the furrow (in furrow sowing) or in a shallow
furrows cut on the ridge (in ridge planting). The same insecticide
could be applied in leaf whorls (2-3 granules/whorl) based on the
foliar injury symptoms, to prevent stem borer tunneling.

Disease management
Downy mildew
Seed treatment with Metalaxyl at 4 g/kg of seed. Rogue out infected plants upto 45 days
after sowing and spray Metalaxyl 500g or Mancozeb 1kg or Ziram 1kg or Zineb 1 kg/ha.
Spray Mancozeb 1250 g/ha after noticing the symptoms of foliar diseases, for both
transplanted and direct sown crops.
Head Mould
Spray any one of the following fungicides in case of intermittent rainfall during earhead
emergence and a week later. Mancozeb 1 kg/ha, Zineb 1 kg/ha, Captan 1 kg/ha +
Aureofungin sol 100 g/ha.
Sugary disease
Sowing period to be adjusted so as to prevent heading during rainy season and severe
winter. Spray any one of the following fungicide at emergence of earheads (5 10 %
flowering stage) followed by a spray at 50% flowering and repeat the spray after a week
if necessary. Ziram 1 kg/ha, Mancozeb 1 kg/ha, Zineb 1 kg/ha.
Rust
Spray Mancozeb at 1 kg/ha when the disease reached grade 3. Repeat fungicidal
application after 10 days.

Harvest
The earhead should be harvested at physiological maturity and
sun dried for removing excess moisture in the grain. The green
cane should be cut at the ground level and sent to the mill for
crushing at the earliest as the sugar content decrease in
progression with time. In any case it should be crushed before
48 hrs failing which sugar content will be drastically reduced.

For Seeds Please contact


Varity SSV 84
Department of Millets
Centre for Plant Breeding & Genetics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University,
Coimbatore - 3.

National Research Centre for Sorghum, Rajendra Nagar, Hyderabad - 500 030.

M/s. Bannari Amman Sugars Ltd., 252, Mettupalayam Road, Coimbatore - 43.

M/s. S.V. Sugar Mills Ltd., Palayaseevaram - 631 606, Kanchipuram Dt.

M/s. Sakthi Sugars Ltd., Jothi Nagar, Padamathur - 630 561, Sivagangai Dt.

M/s. Mohan Breveries & Distilleries Ltd., 158, Anna Salai, Chennai - 600 002.

Madura Hybrid
Nimkar Agricultural Research Institute Post Box : 44, Phaltan - 415 523.
Maharashtra.
For further details
Professor and Head
Department of Millets, Centre for Plant Breeding & Genetics,
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore - 641 003.Ph : 0422 - 2450507,
E-mail : millets@tnau.ac.in directorcpbg@tnau.ac.in
OR SEEDS PLEA

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