Jowar (Sorghum)
Sow in July, harvest around November
This season's sowing time (June–July) is over.
Grown on 8.6 acres here. Priced from mandis across India.
₹8,000–₹12,000
per acre a season, before costs
At typical costs, from a loss of ₹4,000 to a profit of ₹3 an acre a season
- Needs care: Risky: 3 irrigations short
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 3 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 410 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 310 mm it can use in a normal year, and 170 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 22–35 °C on average, and survives 8–40 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jul 35 °C / 26 °C
- Aug 34 °C / 25 °C
- Sep 34 °C / 25 °C
- Oct 32 °C / 24 °C
Soil
Soil for Jowar (Sorghum): 7 out of 10 (okay).
Not in the score: organic carbon, sulphur and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of potassium.
Likes pH 5.5–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 4.6 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (your district's own figure looked wrong).
On rain alone it gets about 75% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 75% of this yield.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (December 2025): about ₹3,000 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 ₹263 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
-
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.
-
Short of potassium Your soil is likely short of potassium.
Add about a quarter more potash (MOP) than the usual dose.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.