🌾 Sugarcane Production Technology

This lesson presents practical sugarcane production technology with emphasis on planting material, ratoon management, nutrient-water scheduling, and quality-linked harvest.

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Importance of Sugarcane

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) is the world's most important sugar crop and a versatile industrial raw material. Key facts:

• India is the 2nd largest sugar producer globally (after Brazil), contributing approximately 19% of world sugar production
• The sugar industry in India provides livelihood support to over 5 crore (50 million) people — farmers, mill workers, transporters, and ancillary workers
• Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are the top two producing states
• Sugarcane is used for:
  • Sugar (sucrose extraction)
  • Jaggery (Gur) and Khandsari: Unrefined traditional sweeteners
  • Ethanol: Increasingly important for National Biofuel Policy; 20% ethanol blending target by 2025
  • Bagasse: Residue used as boiler fuel and paper raw material
  • Press mud: Used as organic manure

Botanical Classification

• Saccharum officinarum: Noble cane; 2n = 80; high sugar, low fibre; tropical origin; basis of commercial cultivation
• S. barberi: Indian origin; adapted to subtropical conditions (UP, Bihar)
• S. sinense: Chinese cane; thin stalks
• S. spontaneum: Wild species; drought and disease tolerant; used in hybridization for stress tolerance genes
• Modern commercial varieties are complex polyploid hybrids derived from interspecific hybridization
• Family: Poaceae
• Propagation: Primarily vegetative (via setts/cuttings); true seed used only in breeding programs

Climate Requirements

• Temperature:
  • Vegetative phase (tillering): 21–27°C
  • Grand growth phase: 30–35°C (rapid cane elongation)
  • Ripening phase: Cool, dry weather (15–18°C nights); essential for high sucrose content
• Rainfall: 1500–2500 mm; supplementary irrigation required in North India
• Tropical and subtropical climates; long frost-free growing period required
• Low humidity and clear weather during ripening improve sucrose purity

Soil Requirements

• Deep loam to clay loam soils with good drainage preferred
• pH: 6.0–7.5 (neutral soils best)
• High soil organic matter (1–2%) improves CEC and nutrient retention
• Poorly drained soils cause waterlogging and root asphyxiation
• Black cotton soils of Maharashtra support some of the highest yields globally

Varieties

Early-Maturing Varieties (10–11 months)

• Co-89003: IISR, Lucknow; high CCS; early harvest
• CoJ-88: PAU, Ludhiana; North India subtropical belt
• CoLk-94184: High sugar; early maturity; UP plains

Mid-Late Maturing Varieties (12–13 months)

• Co-86032: Most widely grown variety in Maharashtra; high yield and sugar
• CoPant-90223: Govind Ballabh Pant University; UP belt
• CoSe-92423: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel UP-ICAST; red rot resistant

Late-Maturing Varieties (14–15 months)

• CoJ-64: Traditional variety; Punjab, Haryana
• Co-99004: High tonnage; UP, Bihar

Key Quality Criterion

• CCS% (Commercial Cane Sugar): Measure of recoverable sugar; high-CCS varieties (>16%) are preferred by sugar mills; determines farmer price (SAP — State Advised Price)

Planting Material (Setts)

• Sett: A cutting from sugarcane stalk with 2–3 buds (nodes)
• 3-budded setts are standard in India
• Seed rate: 35,000–40,000 three-budded setts/ha = approximately 7–8 tonnes of sett material per hectare
• Sett treatment:
  1. Carbendazim 0.1% solution soaking for 10 minutes (controls sett-borne fungal diseases)
  2. Hot water treatment (HWT): 52°C for 30 minutes — eliminates ratoon stunting disease (RSD) pathogen (Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli) — most effective method
  3. Aerated steam treatment (AST): Alternative to HWT

Planting Methods

Method	Description	Advantage
Flat method	Setts laid in flat furrows 6–8 cm deep	Most common; easy
Ridge method	Setts placed on top of ridges	Good for drainage; rainfed areas
Trench method	Deep trenches 25 cm; setts placed at bottom	North India; better moisture and fertiliser placement
Set method	Individual setts placed with spacing	Saves planting material

• Row spacing: 75–90 cm (normal); 60 cm (ratoon); 100–150 cm for wide-row planting in mechanized production
• Planting time:
  • Autumn planting: October–November (North India); gives higher yield
  • Spring planting: February–March (North India); most common
  • Year-round planting: Maharashtra (adsali, pre-seasonal, suru)

Nutrient Management

• Recommended NPK: N 250–300 kg, P 80 kg, K 100 kg/ha
• FYM/Press mud compost: 10–15 t/ha basal application improves soil health
• Split N application (3 doses):
  1. At planting: 1/3 N + full P + full K (as basal)
  2. At 60 DAS (tillering): 1/3 N (top dressing)
  3. At 120 DAS (grand growth): 1/3 N
• Zinc: ZnSO₄ at 25–50 kg/ha for zinc-deficient soils
• Silica: Important for stem hardness and pest resistance in some systems

Water Management

• 8–10 irrigations required in North India (rain-supplemented Kharif cropping)
• Critical stages: Germination, tillering, and grand growth phase
• Withhold water 45 days before harvest — promotes sucrose accumulation and higher CCS%
• Drip irrigation increasingly adopted in Maharashtra — saves 30–40% water; fertigation possible

Earthing Up and Propping

• Earthing up: Done at 3–4 months after planting; soil heaped around the base of the cane rows
  • Purpose: Prevents lodging; supports root system; improves aeration
• Propping: Supports tall cane with bamboo/sticks or by tying rows together at the top during maturity to prevent lodging

Trash Mulching

• Dried sugarcane leaves (trash) retained on the field surface as mulch
• Benefits: Retains soil moisture (reduces 1–2 irrigations); controls weeds; improves soil organic matter; reduces soil temperature fluctuation

Weed Management

• Atrazine 2 kg ai/ha as pre-emergence herbicide — effective against most annual weeds
• 2–3 hand weedings in first 90 days
• Inter-cultivation with cultivator at 30 and 60 DAS

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

Major Pests

Pest	Type	Management
Pyrilla (sugarcane leafhopper, Pyrilla perpusilla)	Sucking	Biological control: egg parasite Tetrastichus pyrillae; adult parasite Epipyrops melanoleuca
Top borer (Scirpophaga nivella)	Stem borer	Trichogramma releases; Chlorpyrifos
Stalk borer (Chilo auricilius)	Stem borer	Trichogramma egg cards; Carbofuran 3G
White grub	Root pest	Chlorpyrifos soil drench at planting

Major Diseases

Disease	Pathogen	Management
Red rot	Colletotrichum falcatum	Most serious disease; red discolouration of internal tissues with white spots; use resistant varieties (CoSe-92423); sett treatment; rogue infected stools
Smut	Ustilago scitaminea	Black whip (flag shoot); rogue and destroy; resistant varieties; HWT of setts
Grassy shoot disease	Phytoplasma	Transmitted by leafhoppers; bushy, pale shoots; HWT + roguing
Wilt	Fusarium sacchari	Cavity inside stalk; sett treatment; avoid waterlogged soils
Ratoon stunting disease (RSD)	Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli (bacteria)	Spreads via cutting tools; HWT of setts eliminates pathogen; disinfect knives between plants

Harvesting

• Duration: 10–12 months from planting (varies by state and variety)
• Maturity indices:
  • Brix: 18–20° (°Brix = total soluble solids)
  • Purity: 84–86%
  • CCS%: >12% at harvest (mills prefer >14%)
• Harvesting method: Manual cutting with billhook near ground level; detrashing (leaf removal) before or after cutting
• Chip cane: Cut into short sections at field level for improved quality in some mills

Ratoon Crop

• Ratoon: A second (or third) crop grown from the stubble remaining after harvest
• Advantages: Saves planting cost and time; earlier maturity; better early yield
• Disadvantage: Yield declines (~15–20% each ratoon)
• Management: Gap filling, additional fertiliser, irrigation after harvest; trash mulching on stubble
• Yield: 80–85% of plant crop for first ratoon; further decline in subsequent ratons
• Ratoon crop widely practised in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu

Yield Potential

Region	Yield (t/ha fresh cane)
North India (UP, Bihar)	70–80 t/ha
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu	100–120 t/ha
National Average	~80 t/ha

Sugarcane Varieties — Summary Table

Variety	State	Maturity	CCS%	Special Feature
Co-86032	Maharashtra	Mid-late	12–14	Most popular; high tonnage
CoJ-88	Punjab, Haryana	Early	14–16	Subtropical adapted
Co-89003	UP	Early	14–16	High sugar, early harvest
CoLk-94184	UP	Early-mid	13–15	High CCS, UP plains
CoSe-92423	UP	Mid	12–14	Red rot resistant
Co-99004	UP, Bihar	Late	12–13	High tonnage

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Summary Cheat Sheet

Area	Key Exam Point
Crop nature	Long-duration commercial crop with ratoon potential
Yield factors	Healthy setts, gap filling, balanced NPK, irrigation discipline
Quality focus	Sucrose recovery improves with maturity-aligned harvest

References

2 sources • [1] [2]

[1]

ICAR — Indian Council of Agricultural Research

Official

[2]

Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India

Official