Introduction |
Sugarcane (Saccharum
officinarum L.) is the main sources of sugar in India and holds a prominent position
as a cash crop. India is the world’s largest consumer and the second largest
producer of sugar, topped only by Brazil. Nearly 2.8 lakh farmers have been cultivating
sugarcane in the vast area of 4.4 lakh acres and over 11 crore people are directly or
indirectly dependent on the sugar industry in the country. Sugarcane is one of the
important commercial crops of India, grown in an area of 3.93 m.ha with annual production
of 170 M.T. Sugarcane productivity in India is around 67 t/ha. It is one of the most
important food-cum-cash crop grown in the country, providing employment to a larger number
of people, in addition to earning considerable foreign exchange. |
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Requirement |
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Sugarcane is able to
grow over a prolonged season. Under warm humid conditions, it can continue its growth,
unless terminated by flowering. Temperatures above 50o C arrest its growth;
those below 20 o C slow it down markedly and severe frost proves fatal. The
crop does best in the tropical regions receiving a rainfall of 750-1200mm. For ripening,
it needs a cool, dry season; but where rainfall is too heavy and prolonged, the quality of
the juice tends to be low, and where the weather remains comparatively. |
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Sugarcane grows best on
medium heavy soils, but can also be raised on lighter soils and heavy clays, provided
there is adequate irrigation available in the former type of soils and drainage is good in
the latter type of soils. In many places, dark rich clay loams, 120-150cm deep, and lying
on a previous substratum of murum (distintegrated traprock) ae used for this crop. In some
areas. |
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Varieties |
CO – 419, CO –
740, CO – 7219 (Sanjivini), CO.M – 7125, CO – 7527, CO.M –
88121(7714), CO –8014 (Mahalaxmi), CO – 86032 (Nira), CO.C – 671, CO.C
– 85061, CO - 8011, CO.M. – 7114, CO.S.I – 776, |
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Planting
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The availability of good
quality cane seed materials (setts) from a nursery crop of 10-11 months are essential for
better germination and good growth. The treatments included were namely control, 0.05%
Bavistin, 2.5% Urea, 2.5% KCI, 2.5% KCI+Urea, 1% Hadron. Two budded setts were used for
planting after treating with above chemicals. Also hot water treatment is given to prevent
seed borne diseases. |
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Planting of sugarcane is
done in three seasons that is suru- January-February, adsali - July-August
and pre seasonal- October-November for planting generally ridges and furrows are prepared
on 100-120cm spacing. For planting one hectare area 25-30 thousand three eye buded cane
setts are required. |
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| Fertilizers |
Adequate manuring is
essential for sustained high yields. The general recommendation in most places is to apply
half to two-thirds of the nitrogen in the form of bulky organic manures, such as farmyard
manure, compost, green manure or tree leaves, and the remainder in the form of ammonium
sulphate or oil-cakes or a combination of the two. For sugarcane fertilizer is recommended
according to planting season and it is varied from growing tract to tract. In general for suru
sugarcane 250:115:115 for Adsali 400:170:170 and for pre seasonal 340:170:170
kg nitrogen, phosphorus and potash per hectare is recommended respectively. For ratooning
250:115:115kg nitrogen, phosphorus and potash per hectare is recommended. |
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| Irrigation
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Water requirement of
sugarcane varies from 2000 to 2500 mm depending upon its duration, soil type and
climatological factors. For sugarcane germination, tillering, grand growth and maturity
are the critical stages for irrigation. During germination phase (1-35 days) there should
be enough moisture in the soil for better germination but waterlogging is undesirable as
it leads to rotting of setts. During this period irrigation can be scheduled at weekly
intervals. But irrigation at 10 days interval during tillering stage (36-100 days) is
sufficient. The formative and grand growth stages (101-270 days) are the critical stages
for water demand. During this period irrigation can be practised at weekly intervals. At
the maturity phase (271 days to harvest) fortnightly irrigation is enough. Irrigation will
have to be stopped at 15 days prior to harvest. |
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Intercultural
operations |
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In early days,
application of paddy straw or spreading of sugarcane trash in the field will decrease the
evaporation and thus decrease the water demand of the crop besides improving the yield. |
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The first hoeing an
weeding should be given to the crop three to four weeks after planting. After germination,
depending on the field conditions and the frequency of irrigation, two or three more
hoeings and weedings may be required during the first three months after planting with the
coming up of the crop. The final earthing-up should be completed before the monsoon rains,
and should generally synchronize with the application of the final dose of fertilizer.
This helps to keep down the weeds. |
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It is very desirable to
tie up the canes so that they may not sway during the winds, and lodge. The best way to do
the tying is to bring together the stalks from adjacent rows and tie them together with
their own trash and old leaves. In many places cane is tied at two or three levels with
twists of cane trash, the twistline going from one end of the row to the other; sometimes
the stalks are further propped up with bamboos. |
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| Plant protection |
| Pest |
| Termites |
| Termites are attack planted sugarcane
setts, usually from the cut ends or eyebuds, but in severe cases internode as well; after
germination, the roots are attacked and pest ascends in the canes, eating all their
contents and filling the galleries with earth; leaves dry up and the plants die; more
active in sandy soils and in drier tracts. |
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| Use only well-rotted manure, mix thoroughly
5% Aldrin or Chlordane dust with the soil; if the standing crop is attacked, apply Aldrin
E.C. at 3kg a.i/ha diluted with 2,000 litres of water as near the roots as possible. |
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| Early
shoot-borer |
| Causing dead-hearts which can be easily
pulled out; the maximum activity is observed during April to August; responsible for
serious losses in tonnage and sugar recovery. |
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| Practice cleans cultivation; plant healthy
setts; give two light stage of the crop; avoid ratooning; systematically collect and
destroy egg masses; remove dead-hearts and do deep harvesting. |
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| Internode
borer |
| Newly hatched caterpillars scrape the leaf
spindle; later, they bore into the tender cane tops; the growing-point is damaged and
results in a dead-heart; active from July till harvest; the pest causes more loss in
tonnage than in juice quality. |
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| Burn all trash after harvest; Practice
clean cultivation; collect and destroy egg masses and larvae during early stages of crop. |
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| Disease |
| Red rot |
| It is a fungal disease. The symptoms of the
disease will appear when the crop is about six months old. At the initial stage, drying of
top leaves can be seen. The leaf starts withering and drooping almost all shoots in a
clump starts drying one by one. Red lesions with straw coloured centres develop on the
midrib of leaves. |
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Uproot and destroy all
the clumps as soon as symptoms appear. Avoid ratooning. Use disease free and heat-treated
setts for planting. After harvest, collect and burn the plant debris. Grow resistant
varieties like CO-7706, CO-86032 and tolerant varieties are CO-8021 and CO-62175. |
Follow crop rotation.
Dip the setts in systemic fungicide Benomyl (0.1%) solution for at least 30 minutes before
planting. |
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| Whip
smut |
| It is fungal disease. The symptoms can be
seen on the crop from the time it is one month old upto harvesting time. The affected
young plants show excessive tillering and at the end of each shoot, a black whip like
structure, full of fungal spores is produced. |
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Use disease free and
heat-treated setts for planting. Dip the setts in Carbendazim solution (0.1%) before
planting at least for 30 minutes. Uproot and destroy the infected clumps. Avoid ratooning.
Grow resistant varieties like CO-85004, CO-86032, CO-6608, CO-6609, CO-62101, CO-1342,
CO-12582, CO-8021 and CO-62175. |
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| Grassy
shoot disease |
This disease is caused
by Mycoplasma like organism and is severe on ratoon crop than on the main crop. Symptoms
are stunting, profuse tillering and grass like growth of shoots (busy appearance) and
yellowing of leaves with short internodes. |
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Use disease free and
heat-treated setts for planting. Uproot and destroy the infected clumps. |
Avoid ratooning. Spray
Endosulfan (0.2%) to kill insect vectors i.e., aphids which transmit the disease. Use
resistant varieties like CO-7219, CO-740, CO-8014 and CO-8011. |
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| Harvesting and yield |
- Assessing the maturity of
the cane crop
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The maturity of
sugarcane is generally recognized by the lower leaves gradually withering up and leaving
progressively fewer green leaves at the top. A ripe cane, out across with a sharp knife,
shows against sunlight a slight sparkling in its flesh in contrast to the more watery cut
surface of an unripe cane. If the grower can keep and use a hand sugar refractometer, the
testing of maturity would be easier. The hand refractometer reading of 20, the cane crop
may be considered to have reached the stage of maturity. Small Mill Test (SMT) will be a
real solution for this perennial problem. For conducting SMT, few canes (say about 10
canes) have to be cut from the field and the samples are analyzed after crushing the cane
in a small mill for poll, brix, purity and ccs% in the laboratory which clearly gives the
maturity status of the cane. |
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- Harvesting system and
harvesting unit
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The Cooperative
generally begins the sugarcane harvest about the first of November and continues for an
average of 150 days. The sugarcane harvest is timed and coordinated undertaking to allow
for maximum utilization of the mill's grinding capacity. At present the harvesting and
supply of sugarcane is done by the farmers after receiving the cutting orders from the
factory authorities. The cutting orders are issued depending upon the date of planting as
found in the records and agreement between the farmers and factory. This system will not
hold good, as uniform maturity of the cane crop can’t be controlled even by planting
early maturing varieties in the early season. In a typical harvesting unit, three or four
harvesters operate in tandem with six to eight tractors and strings of wagons. The huge
machines contain rotating knives, which cut the sugarcane at the base of the stalk. The
cane tops are also cut off by rotating knives and the excess foliage is removed by giant
extraction fans. As the sugarcane passes through the harvester, it is cut into 12-inch
lengths called billets and then put into in-field wagons. The sugarcane is then hauled to
near-by transfer stations and loaded into semi-trailers for delivery. |
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| Yield |
The average yield of a
11 to 12 month-old plant crop under commercial cultivation is 100 tonnes per hectare in
case of suru, 170 tonnes per hectare for Adsali and 120 tonnes per hectare
in case of pre seasonal sugarcane. |