Intro
Sorghum is the fifth most important world cereal following wheat, rice and barley, because of its drought resistance, it is the choice of drier regions though in recent years maize tends to replace sorghum. It is used as a staple food for brewing beer, as a livestock feed ( folder forage or silage) for manufacturing industrial goods like fuel and in many other forms.
Land preparation
Sowing is done on flat or ridges.
In most parts of Nigeria sorghum is sown on ridges and old ridges are destroyed and new ones are made in the old furrow.
Proper soil tillage is necessary to obtain good yields
Good land preparation ensures that the site selected is cleared of any debris or stubbles from previous crops before the onset of the rains
Gather and burn all the debris- to avoid carryover of pests and disease.
Till the soil into smaller crumbs and in the process turn the soil over to cover the weeds.
Tillage may involve ploughing harrowing and ridging.
Ploughing may be necessary after 3-5years while harrowing and ridging are done yearly
Ploughing is deep cultivation while harrowing pulverizes the soil and ridging helps to create a good bed for root establishment, prevent lodging, improve drainage in waterlogged areas and concentrate nutrients from topsoil near the crop for easy access.
Sorghum is adapted to a wide range of ecological conditions and possesses better heat resistance than any other cereal.
Select a fertile well-drained soil though it can tolerate water logging better than millet and maize.
Avoid planting sorghum after sorghum practice rotation with legumes or cotton where applicable.
Select a site with little or no Striga.
Field measurement is very important because accurate field measurement will guide the farmers to know the actual area of his farm
The use of a geographical positioning system (GPS) has simplified the rigour of land measurement.
For area calculation select AREA from the main menu of GPS receiver
Enter START then walk around the perimeter of the farmland you want to measure.
Select CALCULATE to see the area inside the path walked through. The AREA unit can be converted to any unit in the GPS receiver.
Choosing seed
Some of the good varieties include SAMSORG-14 (KSV-8) SAMSORG-17 (SK 5912) SAMSORG H1-4 (Hybrids), SAMSORG-40(ICSV-400) SAMSORG-41 (ICSV-111) CSR 01 (Farafara EX Kano) CSR 02 ( Farafra Ex Katsina) and BES
Planting
Select good quality seeds treated with dressing chemicals before sowing.
Such seeds are obtainable from reputable seed companies or their agents research institutes and ADPs.
The best time to plant is dependent on the days to maturity. This is to avoid
Soil management
it is important to return crop residues of the previous year into the soil where sorghum is to be planted.
it is also important to grow sorghum in rotation with legume crops to provide natural soil enrichment.
Recommended Fertilizer rate per hectare is 60kg N 30kg P2O5 and 30kg K2o per hectare is recommended for optimum yield.
The fertilizer may be applied in one dose or split into two when soils are very sandy.
Apply your fertilizer on moist but NOT wet soil
Do not apply when you anticipate rain as this may likely leach away your costly fertilizer.
Water management
Sorghum requires relatively less water compared to maize and rice
it requires an annual rainfall of 500-800mm
Weed management
In many of the millet growing areas, weed population is not very intense, as a result, 2 hoe-weeding (2-3 and 5-6 WAS) should eliminate weed competition.
However, herbicides such as Atrazine + Terbuthylazine @ 1.5-2.0 kg a.i/ha pre-emergence (3/4-1*MTMin 10 litre-Knapsack sprayer) can give very effective weed control
MTM= Milk Tin Measure= 170ml capacity
Pest control
Precautions must be followed to ensure the safe use of pesticides.
Even after use he empty containers must be disposed of very well by burying them.
Instructions, as stated on the label of the pesticide, must be followed while only trained personnel should apply a pesticide at the recommended rate.
The personnel should also wear protective clothing during application of pesticide.
Maturity
In many of the millet growing areas, weed population is not very intense, as a result, 2 hoe-weeding (2-3 and 5-6 WAS) should eliminate weed competition.
However, herbicides such as Atrazine + Terbuthylazine @ 1.5-2.0 kg a.i/ha pre-emergence (3/4-1*MTMin 10 litre-Knapsack sprayer) can give very effective weed control
MTM= Milk Tin Measure= 170ml capacity
Harvesting
Harvesting should be done when the grains are fully mature and dry.