Jowar (Sorghum)
A winter crop. Sow in Oct–Nov, harvest in Feb–Mar.
Sowing Growing Harvest
When to sow and harvest
Sowing Growing Harvest
Will it grow on your land?
Pick your place and water to see:
- Whether Jowar (Sorghum) suits your land Good fit, possible or won't work, with the reasons.
- What it could earn an acre From yields near you and mandi prices.
- Water and fertiliser it needs Irrigations for your water, and bags for one acre.
What it needs
Temperature
Survives 8–40 °C. Frost hurts it.
Water
Rain and irrigation together, worked out where most of it grows:
Soil pH
Likes neutral soil. Grows from pH 5 to 8.5.
Soil
- Takes a little salt
- Needs rich soil
- N Needs plenty of nitrogen and zinc
Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°); TerraClimate 1991–2020 temperature normals (about 4 km), where each district's villages are.
Fertiliser for one acre
Draft: check with your KVKWith irrigation
Rain-fed: urea 28 kg, DAP 18 kg an acre
Give the DAP and MOP at sowing, and the urea in two or three doses. If your soil card says a nutrient is low, add about a quarter more of it.
Watch out for
Draft: check with your KVK-
Shoot flyPest
Look for
The central shoot dries out in young plants.
What to do first
Sow early with the first rains and use a little more seed.
-
Stem borerPest
Look for
Holes in the leaves and a dried central shoot.
What to do first
Destroy stubble after harvest; spray only when damage spreads. Follow the label or your KVK for the dose.
-
Grain mouldDisease
Look for
Grains turn black, pink or white and soft when rain falls at harvest.
What to do first
Choose a variety that ripens after the rains; harvest on time and dry the grain well.
-
Charcoal rotDisease
Look for
Stalks fall over; inside, the stem is shredded with black specks.
What to do first
Avoid water stress at grain filling and don't sow too thick.
What an acre earns
At India's average yield and this year's price at harvest. Your land, water and mandi will differ.
Left an acre, a season
₹2,700
- Yield India's average
- 4.7 quintals an acre
- × Price mandi price at the 2026 harvest (Feb, Mar)
- ₹3,259 a quintal
- = Income
- ₹15,200
- − Costs seed, fertiliser, labour and machines, as the government costs them
- −₹12,500
- = Left
- ₹2,700
Sold at the support price (MSP, ₹4,023 a quintal) to government procurement, an acre would leave about ₹6,200. Procurement isn't open everywhere: ask at your mandi or agriculture office.
A good year or field earns about a fifth more, a poor one a fifth less: ₹12,100 to ₹18,200 income an acre. Costs stay the same either way.
Work it out for your landMandi price, month by month
Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis. Average of 2025–2026.
Government minimum support price (MSP): ₹4,023 a quintal for 2026-27. Every crop's MSP
Latest prices at mandis near you Today's price across IndiaSource: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).
Where it grows in India
- Area grown in India
- 96.2 lakh acres
- 2024-25
- Average yield
- 5.0 quintals an acre (1.2 tonnes a hectare)
- 2024-25
- Most area
- Solapur
- Maharashtra
- Best yield
- Nandyal
- 11 quintals an acre
Where it grows most
The districts with the most area in recent years. The map colours every district growing it on at least 100 ha by yield; the numbers mark these districts.
- 1 Solapur Maharashtra 8.1% 8.4 lakh acres
- 2 Ahilyanagar Maharashtra 5.4% 5.7 lakh acres
- 3 Dharashiv Maharashtra 3.9% 4.0 lakh acres
- 4 Sangli Maharashtra 3.6% 3.8 lakh acres
- 5 Beed Maharashtra 3.5% 3.6 lakh acres
- 6 Ajmer Rajasthan 3.5% 3.6 lakh acres
- 7 Belagavi Karnataka 3.3% 3.5 lakh acres
- 8 Satara Maharashtra 3.1% 3.2 lakh acres
- 9 Pune Maharashtra 2.6% 2.7 lakh acres
- 10 Parbhani Maharashtra 2.5% 2.7 lakh acres
Jowar (Sorghum) yield
- 1.3–3.2 quintals an acre
- 3.3–4.5 quintals an acre
- 4.6–5.8 quintals an acre
- 5.9–6.9 quintals an acre
- 7.0–30 quintals an acre
1 Numbers match the list: the districts with the most area.
Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 1999-00 to 2024-25.
Where yields are highest
Districts growing it on at least 100 ha, against the average across India. The line runs from India's average to each district.
- Nandyal Andhra Pradesh 11 quintals an acre 2.5× India
- Jagitial Telangana 11 quintals an acre 2.4× India
- Sangareddy Telangana 11 quintals an acre 2.3× India
- Theni Tamil Nadu 10 quintals an acre 2.2× India
- Medak Telangana 10 quintals an acre 2.2× India
- Vijayanagara Karnataka 10 quintals an acre 2.2× India
- Raisen Madhya Pradesh 9.6 quintals an acre 2.1× India
- Sehore Madhya Pradesh 9.5 quintals an acre 2.1× India
- Nizamabad Telangana 9.4 quintals an acre 2.0× India
- Bhind Madhya Pradesh 9.3 quintals an acre 2.0× India
Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 1999-00 to 2024-25.
Across India over the years
Yield across India, quintals an acre
Area sown across India, acres
Years run July to June. Only years in which most of the usual districts reported are shown.
Source: Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare). 1999-00 to 2024-25.
Soil and yield
How district soil tests line up with this crop's yields across India.
Jowar (Sorghum) yields tend to be higher in districts with
- More soil that is neutral weak 326 districts
A pattern is not proof that soil causes the difference.
Source: Soil Health Card – soil nutrient analysis (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – district-wise (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare); Crop area, production & yield – UPAG (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).