Sorghum is an important cereal crop which is grown globally for food and feed purposes. It is most widely grown in the semi-arid tropics where water availability is limited and frequently subjected to drought. About 100 countries grow sorghum, of which 66 cultivate it over more than 1000 ha or produce more than 1000 tons. India has the largest sorghum area with 10.06 million ha. The second largest sorghum cultivating country is Nigeria, followed by Sudan, USA and Nigeria. More than 90 per cent of the world’s sorghum area lies in the developing countries, mainly in Africa and Asia. Sorghum is one of the staple food crops of North Karnataka. 

 Kharif grown Sorghum is ready for markets in north Karnataka. But, uncertainty of prices at harvest has made the farmers to think many times for selling the produce. Under such a situation, to help the farmers to take correct decision about place and time of sale of the commodity, the prices of Sorghum that would prevail in major markets of north Karnataka have been predicted by the Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell (DEMIC), established at Department of Agri-business Management, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad.

            Monthly modal prices of hybrid sorghum were collected from one of the leading hybrid sorghum markets, i.e., Bellary, for the past 20 years and were analyzed by using time series analytical models and reliable forecast prices that would prevail in this market during September October and November, 2013 were established. The output prices were cross verified with the opinions of traders, agricultural scientists and progressive farmers to fine tune the forecast prices. The prices from other major markets and government policies with regard to the marketing of the crop were also considered to come up with accurate price forecasts.

            According to price forecasts and opinions of traders and suggestions of the experienced persons, the prices of Sorghum would be around Rs. 1200-1400/- per quintal in the month of September , Rs.1300-1500 in the month of October and  November in Bellary regulated  market. The farmers can store Sorghum up to October to get a margin of around Rs. 100 per Kg compared to September prices. The storage cost in FCI godowns is Rs. 3/- per quintal per month. Well dried, cleaned, bold seeded grains fetch higher prices in the markets. Hence, farmers are advised to keep these things in mind while preparing the product to the market.