AGRONOMY Agronomical requirements for sugarcane varieties CoH 35, CoS 8436, CoH 99, CoH 92, CoH 110 and CoH 119 released for cultivation in Haryana and also for CoH 92 released at national level have been worked out. Two or three budded setts of sugarcane, under conventional method of sowing, were found to give higher germination (8%) and cane yield (13.6%) as compared to single bud setts. The crop planted in the month of April/May with 25% extra N dose in four equal splits (at planting, 60, 90 and 120 days after planting) was found to serve quality seed for normal season planting (Feb-March) of sugarcane. Best planting time for autumn, spring and late (after wheat harvesting) planting was observed to be last week of September to end October, 15 th February to end March and 15th April to 15th May, respectively. In order to obtain optimum plant population 5.0, 7.0 and 8.0 two-budded setts per running meter were the best for planting at 60, 75 and 90 cm row to row spacing, respectively and planting of sugarcane at spacing of 75 or 90 cm provided similar cane yields in autumn and spring seasons. Under limited water availability, soaking of setts in saturated lime water (80 kg lime in 400 liters of water for one hour), FYM @ 10 t/ha in furrows at planting, trash mulching in alternate rows, skip furrow irrigation and foliar spray of 2.5 % urea during May and June are the best practices. Application of 50 kg K2O/ha, 30 days prior to harvesting of plant cane with irrigation water, resulted in better sprouting of winter harvested cane. For increasing the productivity of sugarcane ratoon, the practices of stubble shaving, gap filling and trash burning (retaining of water shoots and late tillers in case of late initiation of ratoon) have been found advantageous. In case of winter harvesting of early maturing varieties of sugarcane, trash mulching between cane rows followed by irrigation at 10-15 days interval during winter months gave 8-10% higher ratoon yield than conventional practices. Planting by half ridge irrigation method advanced germination for about a week and improved germination by 8 to 10 percent. In this method sufficient soil moisture near cane setts is maintained by light furrow irrigation just after planting followed by planking at working condition of soil. Covering of setts with thin layer of soil Irrigation up to half of the ridge height
Space transplanting method (STP ) i.e. planting of 30-35 days old pre-germinated cane settlings at 60 x 30 cm spacing is suitable for faster seed multiplication. It ensure seed selection, saves up to 75% seed and provides yields similar to conventional method of planting under late planting conditions. Cane settlings on beds Transplanting of settlings in furrows Under pit planting method, pit dimensions of 2.25 feet diameter and 1.25 feet depth with seed rate of 21, two-budded setts per pit gave cane yield of 1.5 to 2.0 times higher than conventional planting method and was most economical. Placing of setts in pit Sugarcane crop in pits For higher germination and cane yield in pit planting the best practice: place the setts in pits, cover with 2 to 3 cm soil, apply light irrigation in individual pit and then cover the setts with 5 to 7 inch loose dry soil after water is fully absorbed. New planting technique i.e. wide furrow paired row planting method (trench method) has been found to be suitable for mechanization, intercropping and saving of 20% water and 15% seed in sugarcane with comparable yields. In this method two slits for planting of cane setts are opened at a distance of 35 cm in each furrow of 45 cm wide keeping bed space of 95 cm which provides crop geometry of 35-35-105 cm. In this technique after covering the setts with 2-3 cm soil, furrows are kept open and 2-3 light irrigations are given for completion of germination. The depth of furrow is kept at 20-22 cm to facilitate irrigation for inter-crops on beds. After harvesting of intercrops earthing up is essential to avoid lodging of sugarcane.
Placing of setts (Two rows in one trench) Sugarcane crop at 60 days in trench method The critical period of crop weed competition in spring planted, summer planted and ratoon sugarcane was 120 days after planting (DAP), 30-60 DAP and 90 days after ratoon initiation, respectively. In plant cane, one hoeing after first irrigation followed by spraying of atrazine at 2 kg a.i/ha after second irrigation in moist soil; and in ratoon trash mulching and integrated weed management as mentioned for plant cane proved as effective as three hoeing in plant crop and ratoon and were cost effective. In sugarcane based cropping system sedges are the dominant weeds which account for more than 70% of total weed population. Single application of Halosulfuron 75% WDG at 67.5 g/ha applied post emergence (2-3 leaf stage of Cyperus species) in sugarcane provided effective (more than 80%) control throughout the crop season for Cyperus species including Cyperus rotundus, which is difficult-to-control by any other herbicide. Besides sedges, halosulfuron is also found effective against many broad leaf weeds infesting sugarcane fields. Application of metribuzin at 1.0 kg/ha (pre-emergence) followed by 2, 4-D Na salt 1.0 kg /ha at 60 DAP followed by hoeing at 90 DAP was found at par with three hoeing in controlling the weeds in sugarcane. Application of atrazine at 2.0 kg/ha as pre-emergence or after first irrigation, followed by post emergence application of 2, 4-D or diacmba or almix at 75 DAP provided more than 80 % control of Ipomea and other weeds. Pre-emergence application of pendimethalin at 1 lit/ha followed by one hoeing at 40-45 days after planting gave effective control of weeds in spring planted sugarcane intercropped with black gram, green gram, cluster bean, cowpea, lady finger, cucumber, long melon, must melon and bitter gourd and autumn planted sugarcane intercropped with wheat, mustard, gram, pea, cabbage, cauliflower, garlic, onion and potato. Intercropping of wheat, gram, lentil, potato, pea, fenugreek, cabbage, cauliflower, mustard, onion and garlic in autumn planted sugarcane and intercropping of black gram, green gram and cucurbits (long melon, musk melon and cucumber) in spring planted sugarcane were found successful and provided additional income.
Sugarcane + Garlic Sugarcane +Wheat Sugarcane + Green gram Sugarcane + Coriander Sugarcane + Lentil Sugarcane + Cucurbits
Table 3: Comparative economics of different intercropping systems in sugarcane: mean of two years 2004-05, 2006-07) Cropping systems Cane yield Intercrop yield (t/ha) (t/ha) (i) Intercropping with autumn planted sugarcane Sole sugarcane 80.0 Sugarcane + garlic 79.9 7.25 Sugarcane + onion 79.3 20.0 Sugarcane + potato 79.3 22.2 Sugarcane + fenugreek 79.7 7.25 Sugarcane + chickpea 75.8 1.93 Sugarcane + lentil 77.9 1.25 Sugarcane + coriander 79.9 6.03 Sugarcane + wheat 76.5 4.3 Sugarcane + vegetable pea 80.3 5.2 Sugarcane + raya 75.9 2.07 (ii) Intercropping with spring planted sugarcane Sole sugarcane 75.5 Sugarcane + green gram 72.4 1.22 Sugarcane + black gram 72.3 1.05 Sugarcane + long melon 73.4 9.0 Sugarcane + muskmelon 74.5 7.7 Sugarcane + cucumber 72.4 7.8 Net returns (Rs/ha) -2926 68855 51038 47565 42033 34730 29215 28839 27038 24969 23789-3275 31360 26215 27232 23426 23017