Sugarcane occupies land for a long period and demands more water than almost any other field crop. Where a mill and assured irrigation exist, it provides reliable income; where either is uncertain, it ties up land for a year with substantial risk.
Planting Material
Cane is planted from setts — sections of stalk carrying buds.
- Take setts from a healthy, disease-free, appropriately aged crop. Using material from a diseased field carries the disease directly into the new one
- The upper portion of the cane generally has more viable buds than the base
- Treat setts before planting as recommended, to control seed-borne disease
- Plant promptly after cutting — setts deteriorate quickly
Seed cane multiplication plots, maintained separately and kept disease-free, are worth establishing if you grow cane regularly. Using ordinary commercial cane as planting material year after year steadily accumulates disease.
Planting Methods
Furrow planting is standard. Deeper trench planting is used in some regions and supports better root development and lodging resistance.
Wide-row planting with a companion intercrop in the early months uses the space before the cane canopy closes. Short-duration pulses and vegetables both work, and the intercrop income partly offsets the long wait for cane revenue.
Row spacing and sett rate depend on variety, planting season and region. Get the recommendation from your KVK or the mill’s cane development staff, who usually provide free technical advice to supplying farmers.
Water
Sugarcane is a high water-use crop. The critical periods are the germination phase, the grand growth phase when the crop is building biomass fastest, and through to maturity.
Drip irrigation with fertigation is well suited to cane and is widely subsidised. It reduces water use substantially compared with flood irrigation and improves nutrient efficiency. Given the crop’s duration and water demand, the payback case for drip is stronger in cane than in most crops.
Cane also does not tolerate waterlogging. Drainage in the monsoon matters, particularly on heavy soils.
Nutrients
Nitrogen is applied in splits across the growing period rather than at once. Potassium supports stalk strength and sugar accumulation. Micronutrient deficiencies, particularly iron and zinc, occur in some soils.
Apply based on soil test. Given the long duration and heavy nutrient removal, cane fields benefit particularly from organic matter — pressmud from mills, farmyard manure, or incorporated trash.
Earthing Up and Propping
Earthing up as the crop grows supports the stalks and encourages root development. Tying or propping the cane in bundles as it approaches full height reduces lodging, which otherwise causes losses at harvest and makes cutting far more difficult.
Lodged cane also sprouts aerial roots and side shoots, both of which reduce sugar content.
Trash Management
Do not burn trash. Spread it between rows as mulch. It conserves moisture, suppresses weeds, moderates soil temperature and adds organic matter as it decomposes.
Trash mulching in the ratoon crop is one of the more effective low-cost practices in sugarcane.
The Ratoon Crop
After harvest, the stubble sprouts again and produces a ratoon crop without replanting. This saves the cost of planting material and land preparation, which is why ratoons are attractive.
The problem is that ratoon yields commonly fall well below the plant crop, and farmers accept this as inevitable when much of it is management.
Getting a better ratoon
- Harvest at ground level. High stubble produces weak shoots from above-ground buds
- Stubble shaving immediately after harvest, to remove damaged stubble and encourage sprouting from below ground
- Gap filling early. Ratoon fields develop gaps where stools have died. Filling them promptly maintains plant population, which is the main reason ratoon yields drop
- Fertilise the ratoon. Ratoons are frequently under-fertilised on the assumption that residual nutrients are enough. They are not
- Irrigate promptly after harvest to trigger uniform sprouting
- Do not ratoon indefinitely. Yields decline with each successive ratoon; replant after the number of ratoons recommended for your area
Harvest
Harvest at proper maturity — cutting immature cane loses sugar recovery, and over-mature cane also declines. Mills usually advise on timing and often test cane maturity.
Deliver to the mill quickly after cutting. Sugar content falls with every day of delay between harvest and crushing, and payment is based on recovery.
Before You Plant
Confirm your mill linkage and payment record before committing land for a year. Payment delays from mills are a recurring problem in several regions, and a crop that ties up land for twelve months and then pays late is a serious cash flow problem for a small farm.
Varieties, planting seasons, spacing and nutrient recommendations vary substantially by region. Consult your Krishi Vigyan Kendra or your mill’s cane development officer.
