M 35-1 Jowar Seed — Sowing & Yield Guide

Quick facts

Crop: Jowar (Sorghum)
Type: Open-pollinated
Season: Rabi
Maturity period: 120–130 days
Seed rate: 8–10 kg per ha, about 3 kg an acre; use 10–12 kg per ha if sowing is late
Expected yield: 12–16 q/ha
Suitable soil: Clay / black soil
Disease resistance: Good drought and shoot-fly tolerance
Release: Selected 1930 at Agricultural Research Station, Mohol (Solapur, Maharashtra); now maintained by Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV), Rahuri, whose Mohol station is the lead rabi-jowar breeding centre; GI-tagged as "Mangalwedha Jowar" in March 2016

Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.

About this variety

M 35-1, popularly called Maldandi, is a traditional post-rainy (rabi) sorghum selected in 1930 at the Agricultural Research Station, Mohol, in Solapur district, Maharashtra — decades before Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth (MPKV, established 1969) took over as its custodian institute. MPKV’s Mohol station remains the lead centre for rabi jowar breeding today. Grown on residual soil moisture after the monsoon with no irrigation, it has been cultivated for grain and fodder in the Mangalwedha–Solapur belt for generations. Its bold, pearly-white, lustrous grain makes roti valued for taste and softness, and it carries inherent tolerance to common insects and diseases that lets many farmers grow it without pesticides or fungicides. ICRISAT and other breeding programmes have since drawn on the M 35-1/Maldandi germplasm as a source line for newer rabi sorghum varieties, including PKV Kranti. In March 2016 "Mangalwedha Jowar" (the Maldandi M-35-1 strain) received a Geographical Indication tag — Maharashtra’s first for a jowar variety.

Should you pick this variety?

If your rabi jowar has to live on the moisture the monsoon left behind, M 35-1 is still the variety the Solapur belt is built on, and both its grain and its kadbi fetch a premium. Expect 12–16 q/ha and no more. Where the land can take a watering or two, PKV Kranti was bred for that and gives 16–20 q/ha with a sweeter stalk. Where you want more grain off a rabi field that gets no water at all, CSV 216R beat M 35-1 in its own trials and is listed at 18–22 q/ha. Keep M 35-1 where the Maldandi grain itself is what the buyer is paying for.

Sowing & cultivation

Sowing timeSecond fortnight of September to the first fortnight of October; up to the second fortnight of October when the field carries two crops a year. Sowing between the end of September and the first week of October also helps against shoot fly (ICAR-IIMR rabi sorghum leaflet)
Seed rate8–10 kg per ha, about 3 kg an acre; use 10–12 kg per ha if sowing is late
Spacing45 cm between rows and 15 cm between plants, which is about 135,000 plants per ha on rainfed land
FertilizerOn rainfed land, 40:20:0 kg NPK per ha on shallow to medium soil and 60:30:0 on deep soil, all as a basal dose (ICAR-IIMR). M 35-1 is grown on moisture stored in the soil after the monsoon

Full Jowar (Sorghum) growing guideSowing time, nutrients, irrigation, pests, costs and prices for Jowar (Sorghum) as a whole crop. This is the advice that holds for every variety.

Pest & disease considerations

Major diseases

Carries inherent tolerance to common insects and diseases of the post-rainy tract, well-known enough that many farmers report skipping pesticide and fungicide sprays altogether

Advantages & considerations

Why farmers may choose it

Grows entirely on residual soil moisture after the monsoon — no irrigation needed, which is what makes it viable across the drought-prone post-rainy Deccan
Bold, pearly-white grain valued for roti taste and softness; fodder also fetches a premium as it is reported to raise milk fat content in cattle and buffalo
Geographical Indication tag (March 2016) formally recognises its Solapur-belt provenance and protects the "Mangalwedha Jowar" name

Suitable regions

States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.

Maharashtra
Karnataka

Farming on what the monsoon left behind

A post-rainy jowar gets no rain worth the name and, in the Solapur belt, no irrigation either. Everything the crop will drink is already in the soil on the day you sow. That single fact explains M 35-1: a 1930 selection whose 12–16 q/ha is not a weakness of the variety but the size of the water account it is drawing on.

It also explains why deep black soil is not a preference here but a requirement. Deep soil holds more of the monsoon; a shallow patch runs dry while the grain is still filling, and no variety fixes that. Sowing into good moisture, keeping the crop weed-free early so the weeds do not drink the same water, and not stretching the field beyond what the soil can carry are the whole package.

What comes back is quality rather than weight: bold, pearly-white grain whose roti is valued for taste and softness, kadbi that is reported to raise milk fat, and tolerance to the common insects and diseases of the tract good enough that many farmers spray nothing at all. Where a buyer pays for the Mangalwedha Jowar name that got its Geographical Indication tag in March 2016, that quality is also the price.

Can you keep your own planting material?

This is an open-pollinated variety, so seed from a healthy crop of your own can be sown again. Keep seed only from disease-free plants, dry it properly, store it cool and dry, and bring in fresh certified seed every three to four years so the variety does not drift.

How it compares with other varieties

Every Jowar (Sorghum) variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.

Variety	Best for	Maturity	Yield	States
CSH 16	Kharif jowar grown to sell — bold grain that keeps its colour through a wet harvest	100–105 days	25–30 q/ha	Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
CSH 30	The heaviest rainfed kharif crop here — grain and a big fodder stack off one field, on a stalk that stands till you cut it	105–110 days	40–43 q/ha	Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat
CSV 216R (Phule Yashoda)	More grain than Maldandi off a rainfed post-rainy field, and a 240–270 cm plant for the fodder stack	115–120 days	18–22 q/ha	Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat
CSV 27	Kharif jowar where you keep your own seed — mould-resistant grain and the heaviest fodder figure here, 193 q/ha	112–118 days	26–28 q/ha	Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan
M 35-1 (Maldandi)this page	A post-rainy crop on deep black soil with no irrigation at all — grown for roti grain and premium kadbi, not for tonnage	120–130 days	12–16 q/ha	Maharashtra, Karnataka
PKV Kranti	Post-rainy jowar on medium-to-deep land that gets water — white grain and the sweetest stalk of the rabi varieties here	105–110 days	16–20 q/ha	Maharashtra

Other Jowar (Sorghum) varieties in the finder, for comparison.

Tools for this crop

The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Jowar (Sorghum) is selling for.

Subsidy and government support

Schemes that help with the cost of Jowar (Sorghum) seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.

Frequently asked questions

Is M 35-1 the same as Maldandi jowar?

Yes — M 35-1 is the breeding-line name of the traditional Maldandi strain selected in 1930 at Mohol, Solapur. It is also marketed as "Mangalwedha Jowar," which received a Geographical Indication tag in 2016.

Why is M 35-1's yield lower than the newer rabi varieties?

Because it is a 1930 selection grown with no irrigation at all, on whatever moisture the soil holds after the monsoon. Its 12–16 q/ha is the price of that. What it gives back instead is grain quality, fodder reported to raise milk fat, and tolerance to common insects and diseases good enough that many farmers spray nothing at all. CSV 216R and PKV Kranti out-yield it where the land or the water allows.

Does the GI tag get me a better price for M 35-1?

The Geographical Indication granted in March 2016 protects the Mangalwedha Jowar name for the Maldandi M 35-1 strain of that belt. It helps when you sell through a buyer or a farmer group that uses the name; growing the same variety outside the belt does not give you a right to it.

Can M 35-1 be sown in kharif?

No. It is a post-rainy variety, and in the wet kharif season rain during grain-fill brings on the grain mould that its bold white grain cannot carry. For a rainy-season crop use CSH 16, CSH 30 or CSV 27.

M 35-1 or CSV 216R — which one for a rainfed rabi field?

CSV 216R gives more, 18–22 q/ha against 12–16 q/ha, and it beat M 35-1 in MPKV's own trials on both grain and fodder. Stay with M 35-1 if your buyer pays for the Maldandi name, or if the land is shallow and cannot carry a 240–270 cm plant to maturity. Otherwise CSV 216R is the step up.

Should I move from M 35-1 to PKV Kranti if I can give one or two waterings?

It is worth a trial strip. PKV Kranti was bred for medium-to-deep soil with water, gives 16–20 q/ha against 12–16 q/ha for M 35-1, matures in 105–110 days, and its stalk is sweeter, so animals clear more of the fodder. You lose the Maldandi name, so check what your buyer pays before you switch the whole field.