Jowar (Sorghum)
Sow in October, harvest around February
This season's sowing time (September–October) is over.
Grown on 177 acres here. Priced from mandis across your state.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 4 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 4 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 360 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 10 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 200 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 34 °C / 23 °C
- Nov 34 °C / 19 °C
- Dec 32 °C / 15 °C
- Jan 31 °C / 14 °C
Soil
Soil for Jowar (Sorghum): 8 out of 10 (good).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
Likes pH 5.5–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 5.9 quintals an acre here (district figures).
Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (February–March 2026): about ₹4,701 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹3,675 a quintal, the middle of 123 mandis across India (latest 13 Nov).
Minimum support price: ₹4,023 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹2,190 2021
- ₹2,760 2022
- ₹4,400 2023
- ₹3,500 2024
- ₹3,530 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
-
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.
About 18% of local fields of this crop get it.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 18%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 18%
- Urea 18%
- Zinc Sulphate Heptahydrate / Monohydrate 18%