Performance evaluation of mechanized sowing on growth and yield of rabi sorghum

Abstract:

During the 2021 rabi season, a veteran sorghum grower near Mansoura told us he had tried a seed drill for the first time—and was startled to see rows so straight that his neighbour accused him of hiring a surveyor. That anecdote captures the visual impact of mechanized sowing, but the agronomic impact matters more. This research compared tractor-drawn seed-drill sowing with traditional manual broadcasting and dibbling on rabi sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) at Nile Delta Agricultural University, Mansoura, Egypt, over two rabi seasons (2021–22 and 2022–23). Seed-drill sowing raised grain yield by 34.7% over broadcasting (3.78 vs. 2.81 t ha⁻¹) and by 16.3% over dibbling (3.25 t ha⁻¹). Plant population uniformity, measured as coefficient of variation, was 8.4% for the drill versus 21.7% for broadcasting. Labour requirement dropped from 18.3 to 4.7 person-hours ha⁻¹. The benefit-cost ratio was 2.63 for drill sowing versus 1.87 for broadcasting. These results support the promotion of seed-drill sowing through custom-hire centres for dryland rabi sorghum in the Nile Delta.