Posted on July, 13, 2021 at 04:36 pm
Sorghum is a crop that has short cycles and can withstand hot and dry climates. This makes it suitable for the arid and semi-arid areas.
Because of the short harvest cycles and little maintenance activities, sorghum is the fifth most cultivated grain crop in the world.
Sorghum farming can be a substitute for the staple maize crop, which takes longer to grow and is highly affected when there is drought.
The sorghum market is huge and is currently expanding as people seek to diversify their diet from the common maize. Traditionally, sorghum is consumed as uji, ugali or sometimes fermented into alcoholic drinks.
Health benefits
Sorghum is a nutrient-packed cereal grain that offers a variety of health benefits to its consumers. In addition to it being full of nutrients, sorghum is a gluten-free grain and is therefore suitable for use as a substitute to other nutrient containing grain for people suffering from gluten sensitivity.
Some of the health benefits of sorghum include: Sorghum contains vitamin B, which plays an essential role in metabolism, neural development, and skin and hair health. Sorghum is also rich in fibre which is an essential part of our daily diet. This is essential to a healthy digestive tract, stabilises blood sugar levels in diabetic people and also aids in weight loss.
Requirements
Sorghum is produced in a wide range of soil types and agro-climatic zones. It does well in heavy clay soils (vertisols) and light sandy soils with a pH ranging from 5.0-8.5.
Sorghum yield per acre
The yield of sorghum depends on the variety. While talking about yield, you should also consider if you plan on harvesting fodder for animal feed. Some varieties are more suitable for both grain and fodder.
Yields from rain-fed sorghum farms range from 0.3-1 tonnes. In farms that use hybrid sorghum seeds, yields of up to 12 tonnes per hectare under ideal inputs, soil and water conditions can be achieved.
Though the hybrid seeds produce more harvests, you cannot reuse the grain as seeds during the next planting season. Also, the traditional varieties are more drought and disease resistant than their hybrid counterparts.
Land preparation
You should begin land preparation promptly after the previous crop is harvested. This allows adequate time for; infiltration and storage of soil moisture, the decay of crop residue and soil firming.
For optimum production, the row spacing for sorghum is between 60-75cm by 20cm between plants depending on the variety. In places where an ox is used to plough the land and the row spacing is fixed at 90cm, the recommended plant spacing is 15cm.
Fertiliser requirements
It is important for you to conduct soil tests to know the kind of nutrient deficiencies your soil has. From that information, you will understand what nutrients your soil needs for optimum production of sorghum.
To maximise yields, use NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium) of ratio 90:45:45. Apply the fertiliser on two thirds top sides of the ridges at 5cm depth and cover the soil.
Weed control
There are several ways weed control can be done while farming sorghum. Common weeds that grow alongside sorghum are Striga and couch grass. Some of the methods include:
Hand pulling - You can manually extract the weeds by pulling them by hand and burning them before they flower.
Intercropping - You can also intercrop sorghum by planting it alongside cowpeas, groundnuts or cotton to reduce space that weeds can utilize to grow.
Weeding - You can employ the use of a hoe to dig out weeds three weeks after crop emergence. This should be done carefully to avoid damaging the crop.
Use of herbicides - Where manual pulling cannot be done, you can employ the use of herbicides to control weeds.
Sorghum harvesting
Harvesting of sorghum should be done early to avoid losses from birds, insects, mold and bad weather. The ideal time to harvest sorghum is when the moisture content is below 20 per cent as the seeds will have hardened enough to withstand threshing action. You can harvest sorghum by cutting the head using a knife.
You can alternatively use a combine harvester if a large tract of land is to be harvested. However, this can only be done on the dwarf sorghum variety. After harvesting and threshing sorghum, you should dry the grain to achieve a 12 per cent moisture content before storing it in gunny bags or a silo.
Source: The Monitor