Jowar (Sorghum)
Sow in October, harvest around February
This season's sowing time (September–October) is over.
No figures for this season in your district. Priced from mandis across India.
₹17,000–₹26,000
per acre a season, before costs
After typical costs: ₹5,000–₹13,000 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 2 irrigations short
- Needs care: Cool in December
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 2 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 280 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 30 mm it can use in a normal year (10 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 190 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 22–35 °C on average, and survives 8–40 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 32 °C / 22 °C
- Nov 29 °C / 16 °C
- Dec 26 °C / 12 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 25 °C / 11 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Jowar (Sorghum): 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it, though not most crops.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of boron.
Likes pH 5.5–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 8.8 quintals an acre here in its other seasons (district figures).
On rain alone it gets about 76% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 76% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹3,259 a quintal across India's mandis.
This week: about ₹3,675 a quintal, the middle of 123 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹12,000 a season after typical costs.
Minimum support price: ₹4,023 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹1,820 2021
- ₹2,180 2022
- ₹3,330 2023
- ₹2,760 2024
- ₹2,590 2025
Prices swing a lot from year to year, so income can be well above or below this range.
Prices are usually best in October.
Typical costs are about ₹12,000 an acre (seed, fertiliser, labour and hired machines, from the government's cost survey). They are spent whatever the harvest.
How to make it work
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Short of nitrogen Your soil is likely short of nitrogen.
Add about a quarter more urea than the usual dose, in two or three splits. A pulse crop in rotation also adds nitrogen.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
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Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.