EFFECT OF AMENDMENTS AND VARIETIES ON SUGARCANE YIELD AND QUALITY WITH POOR QUALITY IRRIGATION WATER

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1 EFFECT OF AMENDMENTS AND VARIETIES ON SUGARCANE YIELD AND QUALITY WITH POOR QUALITY IRRIGATION WATER S. Paul Sebastian*, C. Udayasoorian, R.M. Jayabalakrishnan and E. Parameswari Department of Environmental Sciences,Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Coimbatore ,Tamil Nadu (INDIA) Received October 20, 2008 Accepted February 28, 2009 ABSTRACT Sugarcane is known to be moderately sensitive to salinity. Excess of cations such as sodium and anions like carbonate, bicarbonate and chloride present in irrigation water, may affect the growth and yield of sugarcane. To realise this problems field experiments were conducted to screen the saline tolerant sugarcane varieties for poor quality irrigation water under different amendments. The field experiment - I was conducted on sandy loam soil with treated paper mill effluent as irrigation source and experiment - II was conducted on sandy clay loam soil with saline groundwater as irrigation source, during October January 2008 in a split plot design, with three replications. The experiment consists of seven main plot treatments i.e. basal application of 500 kg ha -1 gypsum (control), 50 % Gypsum Requirement (GR), 50 % GR + t ha -1, 50 % GR + composted coir 12.5 t ha -1, 50 % GR + 5 t ha -1, 50 % GR + 6 t ha -1, 50 % GR + t ha -1 along with 100 % NPK. The sub plot treatment consist of four saline tolerant varieties viz., COC(SC)23, COSi(SC)6, COG(SC)5 and CO Based on the results obtained from the field experiments, it could be concluded that the saline tolerant sugarcane variety COSi(SC)6 performed better under 15 t ha % GR % NPK with in situ incorporation of green manures (Daincha- Sesbania aculeata) on 45 DAP and application of foliar micronutrient spray (1 % FeSO % ZnSO kg urea) on 45 th and 75 th DAP. Among the different saline tolerant sugarcane varieties, CO86032 recorded superior quality parameters followed by COC(SC)23. Higher values of brix %, pol % cane, pol% juice, purity co-efficient, POCS and CCS were recorded in CO86032 under control, the fiber content was high in COSi(SC)6 under 12.5 t ha % GR. Key Words : Sugarcane varieties, Gypsum, Composted coir pith, Vermicompost, Pressmud. * Author for correspondence 817

2 INTRODUCTION Quality of irrigation water is an important consideration in the appraisal of salinity or alkalinity conditions in an irrigated area. Since, the quality of irrigation water is instrumental for getting higher yields, the assessment of quality for irrigation water not only helps in predicting suitability of water to crop growth but also maintaining the soil health 1. In India, increasing trend of irrigated area has led to 3.58 and 5.50 M ha of saline and sodic soils, respectively 2. Sugarcane production decreases when grown in saline 3 and sodic soil conditions 4 and over one million hectare of the world sugarcane production is affected by salinity / sodicity 3. Among the abiotic constrains, salinity of water poses a challenge to sugarcane production. Breeding of salt tolerance is difficult, whereas selection of tolerant genotypes may help in sustaining the cane yield and juice quality under such situations 3. An integrated approach is needed to facilitate the use of saline waters (Poor quality water) for irrigation, to minimize Parameters Table 1 : Characteristics of irrigation water Unit drainage disposal problems and to maximize the beneficial use of multiple water sources. Hence with this idea, the present investigation was carried out to with the objective of to evaluate the impact of poor quality irrigation water and amendments on yield and quality of saline tolerant sugarcane varieties. MATERIAL AND METHODS Mainly based on the levels of EC, chloride and bicarbonate content, the irrigation waters are termed as poor quality water. The treated paper mill effluent samples collected from Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited (TNPL), Kagithapuram, Karur and the saline groundwater samples collected from farmer s field at Vatamalaipalayam, Thudiyalur, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India for their physical and bio-chemical analysis. The characteristics of poor quality irrigation water (Table 1). The representative samples of organic amendments were taken for their chemical analysis. The details were given in Table 2. Values Treated paper mill effluent Saline groundwater Colour - Light brown colour Colourless TSS mg L TDS mg L ph mg L EC ds m Organic carbon per cent 0.61 BDL BOD mg L COD mg L

3 NH 4 -N mg L BDL P mg L BDL CO 3 mg L -1 BDL BDL HCO 3 mg L Total alkalinity mg L Ca mg L Mg mg L Na mg L K mg L Chloride mg L Sulphate mg L Potential salinity (PS) Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) Per cent Sodium Residual sodium carbonate (RSC) Category - Poor quality irrigation water Parameters Table 2 : Characteristics of organic amendments Unit FYM Vermicompost 819 Amendments Composted coir pith Pressmud ph EC ds m Total N per cent Total P per cent Total K per cent Organic Carbon per cent Calcium per cent Magnesium per cent C : N ratio :1 18.9:1 19.8:1 17.2:1

4 Field experiments Based on the detailed analysis (Table 3) of experimental site at Pandipalayam, TNPL, Karur (field experiment - I), it has been classified as sandy loam, saline sodic and field located at Vatamalaipalayam, Thudiyalur, Coimbatore (field experiment - II) has been classified as sandy clay loam, sodic soil. Parameters Mechanical analysis Table 3 : Characteristics of field experiment soil samples Unit 820 Field sites I-Pandipalayam II-Thudiyalure Clay per cent Silt per cent Sand per cent Textural class - Sandy loam Sandy clay loam Physical analysis Bulk density Mg m Particle Density Mg m Physico-chemical analysis ph EC ds m Available N kg ha Available P kg ha Available K kg ha Organic Carbon (%) Exchangeable Ca cmol (p + ) kg Exchangeable Mg cmol (p + ) kg Exchangeable Na cmol (p + ) kg Exchangeable K cmol (p + ) kg CEC cmol (p + ) kg ESP Chloride cmol (p + ) kg Gypsum Requirement t ha Biological analysis Bacteria (x 10 6 CFU g -1 of soil)

5 Fungi (x 10 4 CFU g -1 of soil) Actinomycetes (x 10 3 CFU g -1 of soil) Dehydrogenase µg of TPF g -1 of soil Urease µg of ammonia release g -1 of soil h Phosphates µg of PNPP g -1 of soil Category - Saline sodic soil Sodic soil Field experiments were conducted to screen the saline tolerant sugarcane varieties for poor quality irrigation water with different amendments. The field experiment - I was conducted on sandy loam soil at Pandipalayam, Karur District with treated paper mill effluent and experiment - II was conducted on sandy clay loam soil at Vatamalaipalayam, Thudiayalur, Coimbatore District with saline groundwater during October January 2008 in a split plot design, replicated thrice. The experiment consists of seven main plot treatments viz., basal application of 500 kg ha -1 gypsum (control), 50 % Gypsum Requirement (GR), 50 % GR + t ha -1, 50% GR + composted coir 12.5 t ha -1, 50 % GR + 5 t ha -1, 50 % GR + 6 t ha -1, 50 % GR + t ha -1 with common application 100 % NPK (275:60:60 kg ha -1 ) through inorganic fertilizers. The sub plot treatments consist of four saline tolerant varities viz., COC(SC)23, COSi(SC)6, COG(SC)5 and CO In situ incorporation of green manure (Daincha - Sesbania aculeata) on 45 DAP and micronutrient foliar spray (1 % FeSO % ZnSO kg urea) were applied on 45 and 75 DAP. Harvested canes were weighed from the net plot and the yield was expressed in tonnes ha -1. The sample cane harvested from the net plot for juice analysis was also added to the net plot weight. 821 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Influence of amendments on yield and quality of sugarcane under poor quality irrigation waters. Cane yield is the output of yield attributes. Due to the overall significant improvement in yield attributes, cane yield was high in COSi(SC) 6 under pressmud 15 t ha % GR in both the irrigation sources. The yield of and t ha -1 recorded in treated paper mill effluent and saline groundwater irrigation, respectively. This might be due to slow release of available nutrients throughout the crop growth period and also saline tolerant capacity of the sugarcane variety COSi(SC)6. Soundarajan et al. 5 observed that application of bioearth (composted 6 t ha -1 along with 75 % NPK through inorganic fertilizers and Azotobacter found to be efficient in increasing the yield of sugarcane. Increasing N rate up to 225 kg significantly increased the commercial cane yield, while it decreased cane juice 6. Hence, cultural practices improves the soil environment could benefit root growth and sugarcane production. One such practice is the incorporation of CaSO 4.2H 2 O (gypsum) into the soil, which improves soil structure in heavy-textured soil, so that water infiltration and the ability of roots to penetrate the soil are enhanced. ha -1

6 822 Table 4 : Influence of sugarcane varieties and amendments on number of millable cane, single cane weight and cane yield under poor quality irrigation water Treated paper mill effluent irrigation (TPME) 822 Saline Groundwater (SGW) S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean M M M M M M M Mean SEd CD(0.05) SEd CD(0.05) M S M X S S X M

7 823 Table 5 : Influence of amendments and sugarcane varieties on brix %, pol % juice and pol % cane under poor quality irrigation water Treated paper mill effluent irrigation (TPME) Brix (%) Pol % juice Pol % cane S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean M M M M M M M Mean SEd CD(0.05) SEd CD(0.05) SEd CD(0.05) M 0.37 NS 0.30 NS 0.24 NS S M X S S X M Saline Groundwater (SGW) Brix (%) Pol%juice Pol%cane S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean M M M M M M M Mean SEd CD(0.05) SEd CD(0.05) SEd CD(0.05) M 0.36 NS 0.30 NS 0.24 NS S M X S S X M

8 824 Table 6 : Influence of amendments and sugarcane varieties on purity co-efficient of juice and fibre content under poor quality irrigation water Treated paper mill effluent irrigation (TPME) Purity co- efficient (%) Fibre Content (%) S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean M M M M M M M Mean SEd CD(0.05) SEd CD(0.05) M 1.62 NS 0.29 NS S NS M X S S X M Saline Groundwater (SGW) Purity co-efficient (%) Fibre Content (%) S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean M M M M M M M Mean SEd CD(0.05) SEd CD(0.05) M 1.58 NS 0.28 NS S NS M X S S X M

9 825 Table 7 : Influence of amendments and sugarcane varieties on POCS and CCS under poor quality irrigation water Treated paper mill effluent irrigation (TPME) POCS (%) CCS (%) S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean M M M M M M M Mean SEd CD(0.05) SEd CD(0.05) M S M X S S X M Saline Groundwater (SGW) POCS (%) CCS (%) S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 Mean M M M M M M M Mean SEd CD(0.05) SEd CD(0.05) M S M X S S X M

10 In addition to its own manurial value, amendments and green manures were incorporated in to the soil increases the biological activity, modifies the level of available nutrients and increase the organic carbon content of the soil through biodegradation and thereby improves the physico-chemical properties of the soil. This might be the reason for the increase in cane yield 7. Bokhtiar et al. 8 also supported this and noticed that the addition of organic manure / green manure with chemical fertilizers produced higher cane yield as compared with treatments where only chemical fertilizers were used. Tiwari et al. 9 reported that the continuous application of pressmud and nitrogenous fertilizers increased significantly the cane and sugar yield of sugarcane. Yaduvanshi and Yadav 10 reported that the direct and residual application of 30 t ha -1 pressmud alone increased cane yield by 27 per cent and 39 per cent, whereas its combined application with 150 kg N ha -1 to each crop increased the yield by 65.5 per cent and 69.3 per cent, respectively over control. Use of 12.5 t ha -1 pressmud / cowdung with chemical fertilizers based on soil test for high yield goal may be suggested for maximizing sugarcane production and achieving higher economic benefit t ha % NPK increased cane yield by 20 per cent over 100 % NPK alone 11. In general, the yield was superior in treated paper mill effluent than saline groundwater irrigation. The treated paper mill effluent also contributed to the available nutrients, which favoured higher cane yield. The above findings are in line with Udayasoorian et al. 12. Gopalakrishnan et al. 13 concluded that the treated paper mill effluent irrigation gave higher sugarcane yield compared to river water irrigation. 826 This might be due to the supply of nutrients, organic carbon and low salt stress to sugarcane under treated paper mill effluent than under saline ground water. The poor physical structure, high ph, ESP of soil and high EC of irrigation water might be the reason for low productivity under saline groundwater irrigation. Impact of amendments on sugarcane quality parameters and sugar yield under poor quality irrigation water Quality parameters such as brix (%), pol % juice, pol % cane, purity co-efficient, fibre content, pure obtainable cane sugar (POCS) and commercial cane sugar (CCS) were influenced either by sugarcane varieties (or) amendments (or) both under poor quality irrigation water. Brix %, pol % juice, pol % cane, purity co-efficient and fibre content were not influenced by the amendments incorporation. This was in line with the findings of Rinwa et al. 14 and Suguna Devakumari 11. The higher value of brix %, pol % juice and pol % cane were observed in CO closely followed by COC(SC) 23 but it recorded slightly higher value of purity co-efficient than CO The sugarcane variety CO86032 with 500 kg ha -1 of gypsum registered higher values of brix %, pol % cane, pol% juice, purity co-efficient, POCS (%) and CCS (%) than rest of the treatments. This trend was observed in both the experiments. This was in line with the work of Dey et al. 15, who ascribed that more brix percentage was obtained under recommended inorganic fertilizers sources as compared to organic fertilizers. The observed increase in sucrose percentage at a higher salinity level may have resulted from a decrease in partitioning of carbohydrate produced into non-sugar structural component compared to sucrose stored in the cane. The irrigation water of high salinity has a low

11 osmotic potential, which reduces the water intake by the plant. In sugarcane, due to this osmotic dehydration the juice in the cane will be more concentrated, and hence will have a higher percentage of sucrose and smaller juice extraction percentage. However, as the extraction percentage and cane yield decreased with increase in salinity level, the increase in sucrose percentage would not compensate the decrease in the ultimate sugar yield per unit area. The fibre content was high in 12.5 t ha % GR under COSi(SC) 6. Higher values of POCS (%) was recorded in 5 t ha % GR. Among the amendments, vermicompost 5 t ha % GR recorded higher levels of POCS (%) and CCS (%). This finding are in line with Sekar et al. 16, who reported that the integrated application of 5 t ha -1 along with recommended NPK registered the highest level of commercial cane sugar (12.6%) than fortified 10 t ha -1, 12.5 t ha -1 and 7.5 t ha -1 along with inorganic fertilizers. The purity of the sugarcane juice was influenced by the treatments. These irrigation waters might adversely affect the mineral composition of the cane juice. Application of amendments may result in a further increase in the salt content of the juice. It may be increased when gypsum was added along with organic amendments under poor quality irrigation water. This was supported by Choudhary et al. 17, who reported that the higher EC and mineral content of the juice would increase the relative proportion of non-sugar solids resulting in reduced purity of the juice, which was evident under sodic and salinesodic irrigation due to application of gypsum along with FYM. CONCLUSION From this field experiments it could be concluded that invariably sugarcane varieties performed better with poor quality irrigation water under pressmud application. Among the different saline tolerant varieties COSi(SC) 6 showed better performance, followed by CO86032, COC(SC) 23 and COG(SC) 5. Among the different saline tolerant sugarcane varieties, CO86032 recorded superior quality parameters followed by COC(SC) 23. Higher values of brix %, pol % cane, pol% juice, purity coefficient, POCS and CCS were recorded in CO86032 under control, the fiber content was high in COSi(SC) 6 under 12.5 t ha % GR. The results obtained from the field experiments, it could be concluded that the saline tolerant sugarcane variety COSi(SC)6 could be best under 15 t ha % GR % NPK with in situ incorporation of green manure (Daincha - Sesbania aculeata) on 45 DAP, and foliar micronutrient spray (1 % FeSO % ZnSO kg urea) application on 45 and 75 DAP, it increased the yield and farm income. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I owe my sincere gratitude to ITC- PSPD and Tamil Nadu Newsprint & Papers Limited (TNPL) for their support, credit and financial assistance rendered by way of fellowship for the successful completion of my investigation. REFERENCES 1. Sellamuthu K.M., Natarajan S., Sivakumar K. and Sivasamy R., Quality 827

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13 organic and inorganic fertilizer for cane yield and sugar production in spring planted sugarcane. Indian Sugar, 46, , (1997). 16. Sekar A., Manickam G. and Pannerselvam P.. Effect of different sugarcane based organics in combination with inorganic fertilizers on yield and quality of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum). J. Ecobiol., 21, 93-95, (2007). 17. Choudhary O.P., Sosan A.S., Bajwa M.S. and Kapur M.L.. Effect of sustained sodic and saline sodic irrigation and application of gypsum and farmyard manure on yield and quality of sugarcane under semi-arid conditions. Field Crops Research, 87, , (2004). INVITATION TO AUTHORS The Journal of Environmental Research And Development is an International Quarterly Interdisciplinary official Journal of Natural Sciences, Technology and Social Sciences for Environment. It covers Life Sciences, Bio-Technology, Information Technology, Earth Sciences, Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Agricultural Sciences, Food Sciences Pharmaceuticals, Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Management, Environment protection and Law. Also, efforts in Sociology, Political Science, Psychology, Drawing, Music, History, Geography, Home Science, Philosophy, Economics, Commerce and Literature (English, Sanskrit and Hindi) concern with Environment. Therefore, we invite you to contribute for the following types of publications : (1) Full length research papers (2) Short communications (3) Review articles (4) Recently launched Industrial products affecting Environment (5) Awards, prizes, and scholarships of international or national repute related with Environment (6) Seminars, conferences and news etc. on environmental issues. (7) Articles concern with environment protection and law. (8) Management in environment protection. You are also requested to become member of the Journal. 829