How to Grow Sesame
Sesame will perform best on fertile and well-drained soils, such as silt loams. It is adapted to sandy loam soils, provided there is adequate moisture during seedling establishment.
It has been grown satisfactorily on silty clay loam soils, but soil crusting can be a problem in establishing sesame when clay content is higher. Sesame is not adapted to poorly drained soils, and will not tolerate water logged conditions. Soils close to a neutral pH of 7.0 are recommended.
Sesame can fit well with other summer annuals in a crop rotation, but may be sensitive to some soil persistent herbicides. Sesame reportedly can provide some improvement in soil tilth or structure due to extensive rooting.
Planting
Planting sesame is the most critical phase of its management. Successful establishment of sesame requires careful seedbed preparation and close attention to soil moisture. Sesame will not emerge from soils that are even slightly crusted and needs fairly warm soil temperatures of 70°F. or more.
In Texas, growers are told to pre-irrigate their sandy loam soils to obtain “bright moisture” in the seed zone. Irrigating the crop up after planting is often unsuccessful because of the weakness of sesame seedlings in breaking through even a thin soil crust. It’s best to plant into moist soil.
Sesame must also be planted shallow, preferably 1/2″ deep, which makes getting into moisture difficult. Ridge till planting would probably be effective, since scraping off the ridge top with a ridge till planter would expose moist soil. In previous work with sesame in
Missouri, the best results were obtained by preparing a seedbed, waiting for rain, then planting as soon as the soil is able to be worked. This final passage should leave a fine textured soil so that a consistent shallow planting depth can be obtained.
Planting close to June 1 is recommended in Missouri. Soil temperatures may be too cool earlier, and sesame planted after June 15 may not mature before frost. By planting around June 1, there is still time to replant if necessary.
A planting rate of 2 to 3 pounds per acre is recommended. A precise rate is not critical, since sesame will self-thin and compensate for differences in plant population, similar to soybeans. In 30″ rows, anywhere from 6 to 18 seedlings per foot of row is usually appropriate.
At maturity, a plant population of 4 to 8 plants per foot is a good target. Although row spacings of 15″ or less have shown some yield advantage over wide rows, planting in 30″ rows is recommended in Missouri to allow for row crop cultivation. In Texas, 36″ rows are typically used to allow a row crop header to be used for harvest. Since seeding rate is low, an insecticide box on a row crop planter could be used to meter out the seed.
Sesame was planted no-till following cover crops in one Missouri study. The system proved feasible, but more difficult than using tillage to prepare a fine seedbed. The advantage of planting after cover crops would be to help with weed control, and in the case of legume covers, to supply nitrogen to the sesame.
No-till does offer the advantage of having better moisture at the soil surface, due to the surface residue reducing evaporation; however, this advantage is offset by the difficulty of trying to plant a small seeded crop at a consistent shallow depth through plant residue.
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