Transplanted sorghum crop, though not a common cropping practice in many sorghum areas, is practiced in certain parts of Tamil Nadu.
There should be assured availability of water for raising a nursery and irrigating the transplanted sorghum crop.
Transplanted crop has the following advantages:

• Main field duration is reduced by 10 days;
• Optimum population can be maintained as only healthy seedlings are used for transplanting;
• Seed rate can also be reduced by 2.5 kg/ha.
• Shoot fly, which attacks direct sown crops during the first 3 weeks and which is difficult to control can be effectively and economically controlled in the nursery itself;
• Seedlings which show chlorotic and downy mildew symptoms can be eliminated, thereby incidence of downy mildew in the main field can be minimized.

Nursery practices:
Sorghum seedlings are raised in 7.5 cents (300 m2) near a water source, to plant one hectare.
750 kg of FYM or compost is applied in 7.5 cents nursery and another 500 kg of compost or FYM is applied for covering the seeds after sowing.
The 300 m2 area is divided into 3 raised beds of 2m x 1.5m with 30 cm space in between the beds. Channels of 15cm depth are formed around the beds for irrigation.

The following are the seed treatment practices:

1. Seeds are treated with Trichoderma viride at 4g/kg of seed and with three packets each of Azospirillum (600 g) and Phosphobacterium to enhance the availability of nitrogen and phosphorus.
2. The seeds are soaked in 30% salt solution (3 kg of common salt in 10 liters of water). Ergot affected seeds which float are removed to avoid the incidence of ergot disease.

Seed hardening practices:

1. Seed hardening is done by soaking the seeds in 2% (20 g in one liter of water) potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution for 6 hours. Use 350 ml of solution for soaking one kg of seed. Dry the seed in shade to original moisture level.7.5 kg of treated seeds are sown broadcast evenly on the beds.
2. The seeds are covered by passing the hands lightly over the soil ensuring that the seeds are not sown deep as germination will be affected.

The beds are irrigated as per the following schedule:

 Main field practices:
Ridges and furrows are formed 45 cm apart.
Alternatively, form beds of size 10 m2 or 20 m2 depending on the availability of water.
Irrigation channels are formed to evenly distribute water.
Seedlings of 15 to 18 days are planted on the top of the ridges. Seedlings of above 18 days will not establish properly or may die.
1000 g/ha of Azospirillum inoculant is prepared in 40 liters of water and the root portion of the seedlings are dipped in this solution for 15-30 minutes before transplanting.
The seedlings are planted at 5 cm depth and15 cm apart on the side of the ridge, half the distance from the top and bottom of the ridge.
Fertilizers are applied based on the soil test report.
In the absence of soil test recommendations, a blanket recommendation of 90 N, 45 P2O5, 45 K2O kg/ha is adopted.
Half the dose of nitrogen and full dose of P2O5, and K2O are applied before planting. The fertilizers are placed on two-thirds top side of the ridges at 5 cm depth and covered.
The balance nitrogen dose is applied 15 days of planting and irrigated.

Irrigation schedule is followed depending on the soil and weather conditions: