Jowar or Sorghum is one of the major staple food grain crops in India. Next to wheat, the biggest cultivated land in India is utilized to produce jowar. This Indian food crop is cultivated in areas that receive less than 100 cm of rainfall annually. Jowar is grown well in those areas where mean monthly temperature varies from around 26 degree Celsius to 33 degree Celsius. This rabi crop is raised during the months from October to February and is mainly grown in areas where the mean monthly temperature does not fall below 15.5 degree Celsius. Jowar is mainly a rain fed crop and needs more than 30 cm of rainfall during its growing period. Hectarage under this crop decreases when there is excessive rainfall during its sowing period.
Further, jowar is cultivated in those regions of India where regur soil is found as clayey deep regur and alluvium are preferred soils for its better yield. On the Indian Plateau, it is raised mainly west of 80 degrees east meridian. In Maharashtra Plateau region jowar is the most important cereal. Even in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, where some moisture is available from the north-east winds and where temperatures are fairly high in winter, jowar is considered as an important crop. In some districts located south of Pune more than 80 per cent of the cultivated land is under this crop. In various districts of south-western Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, it is raised as proper fodder crop.
Jowar is grown in rabi as well as kharif season. It is raised as a rabi crop in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In these states, more than half of the total area under jowar mainly cultivates rabi jowar. And elsewhere in India, this crop is mainly raised as a Kharif crop.
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