Effect of improved crop production technologies in enhancing sorghum productivity in rainfed areas of Mahbubnagar district in Andhra Pradesh

Mahabubnagar district in Andhra Pradesh state of India is a drought prone area, classified as ‘rain shadow area’ and receives an average annual rainfall of 587 mm. The district falls under hot moist semi-arid Agro-Ecological Sub Region (AESR) as per National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS&LUP). Erratic rainfall, frequent dry spells, low soil fertility, inappropriate soil and water management practices causing land degradation, and declining land : man ratio are some of the important problems faced by the farmers in the district. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) are two important and predominant crops grown in the district. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is executing a project on “Enhanced Utilization of Sorghum and Pearl Millet Grains in Poultry Feed Industry to Improve Livelihoods of Small-Scale Farmers in Asia” in coalition with other partners. It is funded by Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (CFC/FIG/32). One of the activities of the project is to enhance sorghum crop productivity and improve livelihood opportunities through improved production technologies using convergence and coalition of institutions