Prepare the field well in advance, taking advantage of early showers. Apply FYM at 12.5 t/ha and incorporate it well at ploughing. To conserve soil moisture, sow in flat beds and form furrows between crop rows during inter-cultivation or in the third week after sowing.
Pending expert review
Source
Crop Production Guide – Agriculture 2020 (Directorate of Agriculture, Tamil Nadu & Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU)), Rainfed sorghum – Field preparation, p. 74
Region
Tamil Nadu
Last updated
2026-11-04
Seed rate, sowing and spacing (rainfed)
Use 15 kg of seed per hectare. Sow the seeds well before the onset of the monsoon at 5 cm depth, with a seed drill or country plough. Spacing: 45 x 15 cm or 45 x 10 cm.
Pending expert review
Source
Crop Production Guide – Agriculture 2020 (Directorate of Agriculture, Tamil Nadu & Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU)), Rainfed sorghum – Seed rate, sowing & spacing, pp. 74–75
Region
Tamil Nadu
Last updated
2026-11-04
Intercropping with pulses
Sorghum with cowpea, red gram, lablab or blackgram is the most profitable sorghum-based system. In rainfed black soils (Vertisols), sow sorghum in paired rows (plants 15 cm apart, paired rows 60 cm apart) and sow one row of blackgram or cowpea, seeds 10 cm apart, in the furrow between the paired rows. This gives 100% sorghum population plus 33% pulse population.
Pending expert review
Source
Crop Production Guide – Agriculture 2020 (Directorate of Agriculture, Tamil Nadu & Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU)), Rainfed sorghum – Sowing & cropping system, pp. 75–76
