Jowar

Jowar, also known as sorghum, is the most important among the coarse cereals grown in India. Coarse cereals as a group occupy about 16.50 per cent of the total cropped area in the country, and jowar alone accounts for roughly 5.3 per cent of that total cropped area. This makes it a significant food crop, especially in the drier parts of the country.

Jowar is the main food crop in the semi-arid areas of central and southern India. Its cultivation is heavily concentrated in the Deccan plateau region. Maharashtra is the dominant producer, contributing more than half of India's total jowar production. The other leading producer states are Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.

The cropping pattern of jowar varies by region. In the southern states, it is sown in both the kharif (monsoon) and rabi (winter) seasons. In contrast, in northern India, jowar is grown only as a kharif crop, and there it is mostly used as fodder for livestock rather than as a grain for human consumption. …