Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-30T11:31:39.376Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Cultural-practice packages and trash management effects on sugarcane ratoons under sub-tropical climatic conditions of India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2011

S. N. SINGH*
Affiliation:
Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow 226002, India
A. K. SINGH
Affiliation:
Sugarcane Research Institute (U. P. Council of Sugarcane Research), Muzaffarnagar, India
J. P. S. MALIK
Affiliation:
Sugarcane Research Institute (U. P. Council of Sugarcane Research), Muzaffarnagar, India
R. KUMAR
Affiliation:
Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow 226002, India
SUNDERPAL
Affiliation:
Sugarcane Research Institute (U. P. Council of Sugarcane Research), Muzaffarnagar, India
M. L. SHARMA
Affiliation:
Sugarcane Research Institute (U. P. Council of Sugarcane Research), Muzaffarnagar, India
*
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed. Email: snsinghiisr@yahoo.co.in

Summary

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) ratoon crops comprise more than 0·50 of India's sugarcane acreage and reduce the cost of cultivation by 25–30%. However, ratooning is seldom practised beyond 1–2 ratoons because the yield declines in successive ratoons due to compacted soils with decreased fertility restricting root development and plant growth. Therefore, a field experiment on sugarcane was conducted from 1998 to 2003 at the Sugarcane Research Institute, Muzzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh), India to evaluate the effects of combinations of trash management with key cultural practices (stubble shaving, ridge dismantling, sub-soiling along stubble rows, trash mulching and earthing-up) on growth and yield of sugarcane up to the third ratoon. Two treatment combinations (ridge dismantling+stubble shaving+sub-soiling along stubble rows+trash mulching at 8 t/ha (T5) and all these plus earthing-up in June (T6)) showed similar growth, yield and economics of ratoon crops. Both these treatments produced significantly higher shoot populations, leaf area index (LAI), dry matter (DM) accumulation, net assimilation rate (NAR), number of millable canes, ratoon cane yield and sugar, soil organic carbon (SOC) content at harvest and higher net returns besides lowering weed density, weed dry weight and bulk density of soil compared with other treatments. T6 produced the highest cane yield of 77, 72 and 65 tonnes (t)/ha, which was 23, 27 and 29% more than trash burning alone (T1) in first, second and third ratoon crops, respectively. Although T6 had the same yield as T5, it led to significantly lower soil bulk density at 0–150 mm depth, higher SOC contents and greater benefit: cost ratios in the first, second and third ratoon crops, respectively compared with trash burning only. Adoption of the crop management components, separately or in combination, improved on trash burning only (the control treatment). Trash mulching sustained the improved yield and economic returns of sugarcane ratoon crops.

Type
Crops and Soils
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agarwal, M. P. & Singh, M. (1986). Effect of mulches on soil temperature and sprouting of sugarcane ratoons. International Journal of Tropical Agriculture 4, 2329.Google Scholar
Ahmad, S. N. & Giridharan, S. (2000). Study on the influence of management practices on sugarcane ratoon crop. Indian Sugar 49, 835837.Google Scholar
Alvarez, I. A., Camargo-e-Castro-pr, D. E., Nogueira, M. C. S. & de-Camargo-e-Castro, P. R. (2000). Root growth of cane ratoons harvested green or burnt. Scientia-Agricola 4, 653659.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anonymous (1997). Vision-2020. IISR (Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research) Perspective Plan. New Delhi, India: Indian Council of Agricultural Research.Google Scholar
Association of Official Analytical Chemists-AOAC (1990). Official Methods of Analysis, 15th edn. Washington, DC: AOAC.Google Scholar
Ball-Coelho, B., Tiessen, H., Stewart, J. W. B., Salcedo, I. H. & Sampaio, E. V. S. B. (1993). Residue management effects on sugarcane yield and soil properties in northeastern Brazil. Agronomy Journal 85, 10041008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barzegar, A. R., Asoodar, M. A. & Ansari, M. (2000). Effectiveness of sugarcane residue incorporation at different water contents and the Proctor compaction loads in reducing soil compactibility. Soil and Tillage Research 57, 167172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, M. J., Halpin, N. V., Orange, D. N. & Haines, M. (2001). Effect of compaction and trash blanketing on rainfall infiltration in sugarcane soils. Proceedings of the Australian Sugarcane Technologists 23, 161167.Google Scholar
Blair, N. (2000). Impact of cultivation and sugar-cane green trash management on carbon fractions and aggregate stability for a Chromic Luvisol in Queensland, Australia. Soil and Tillage Research 55, 183191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cerri, C. C., Bernoux, M., Cerri, C. E. P. & Feller, C. (2004). Carbon cycling and sequestration opportunities in South America: the case of Brazil. Soil Use Management 20, 248254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chapman, L. S., Haysom, M. B. C. & Saffigna, P. G. (1992). N cycling in cane fields from 15N labeled trash and residual fertilizer. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Sugarcane Technologists 14, 8489.Google Scholar
Cochran, W. G. & Cox, G. M. (1957). Experimental Designs, 2nd edn.New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
de Beer, G., Hudson, J. C., Meyer, E. & Torres, J. S. (1993). Cost effective mechanization. Sugarcane 4, 1116.Google Scholar
De Costa, W. A. J. M. & Sangakkara, U. R. (2006). Agronomic regeneration of soil fertility in tropical Asian smallholder uplands for sustainable food production. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 144, 111133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garside, A. L. (1997). Yield decline research in the Australian sugar industry. Proceedings of the South African Sugar Technologists Association 77, 318.Google Scholar
Graham, M. H., Haynes, R. J. & Meyer, J. H. (2002). Soil organic matter content and quality: effects of fertilizer applications, burning and trash retention on a long-term sugarcane experiment in South Africa. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 34, 93102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunsigi, G. (1989). Ratooning in sugarcane. Outlook on Agriculture 18, 175184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunsigi, G. (2001). Sugarcane in Agriculture and Industry. Bangalore, India: Prism Books.Google Scholar
Jackson, M. L. (1973). Soil Chemical Analysis, 1st edn. New Delhi, India: Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd.Google Scholar
Kingston, G. & Norris, C. (2001). The green cane harvesting system – an Australian perspective. In Innovative Approaches to Sugarcane Productivity in the New Millennium. ISSCT Agronomy Workshop: Abstracts of Communications, p. 9. Miami, FL: American Society of Sugarcane Technologists.Google Scholar
MacGarry, D. & Bristow, K. L. (2001). Sugarcane production and soil physical decline. Proceedings of the International Society of Sugarcane Technologists 24, 37.Google Scholar
Machado Pinheiro, E. F., Lima, E., Ceddia, M. B., Urquiaga, S., Alves, B. J. R. & Boddey, R. M. (2010). Impact of pre-harvest burning versus trash conservation on soil carbon and nitrogen stocks on a sugarcane plantation in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest region. Plant and Soil 333, 7180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Madan, V. K., Mishra, S. R., Soni, N. & Solomon, S. (1997). Laboratory Manual for Sugar Analysis. Technical Bulletin No. 36. Lucknow, India: Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research.Google Scholar
Meade, G. P. & Chen, J. C. P. (1977). Cane Sugar Handbook: a Manual for Cane Sugar Manufacturers and their Chemists, 10th edn. New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc.Google Scholar
Mitchel, R. D. J., Thorburn, P. J. & Larsen, P. (2000). Quantifying the loss of nutrients from the immediate area when sugarcane residues are burnt. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Sugarcane Technologists 22, 206211.Google Scholar
Nunez, O. & Spaans, E. (2008). Evaluation of green-cane harvesting and crop management with a trash-blanket. Sugar Technology 10, 2935.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patra, D. D., Ram, M. & Singh, D. V. (1993). Influence of straw mulching on fertilizer nitrogen use efficiency, moisture conservation and herb and essential oil yield of Japanese mint. Fertilizer Research 34, 135139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pawar, B. N., Shinde, H. R. & Sale, D. L. (2000). Resource productivity and sustainability of sugarcane in Western Maharashtra. Indian Sugar 50, 147151.Google Scholar
Radford, P. J. (1967). Growth analysis formulae: their use and abuse. Crop Science 7, 171175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Razafimbelo, T., Bernard Barthes, B., Larrey-Larrouy, M. C., De Luca, E. F., Laurent, J. Y., Cerri, C. C. & Feller, C. (2006). Effect of sugarcane residue management (mulching versus burning) on organic matter in a clayey oxisol from southern Brazil. Agriculture Ecosystem and Environment 115, 285289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Resende, A. S., Xavier, R. P., de Oliveira, O. C., Urquiaga, S., Alves, B. J. R. & Boddey, R. M. (2006). Long-term effects of pre-harvest burning and nitrogen and vinasse applications on yield of sugarcane and soil carbon and nitrogen stocks on a plantation in Pernambuco, N.E. Brazil. Plant and Soil 281, 339351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ricaud, R. (1977). Effect of subsoiling on soil compaction and yield of sugarcane. Proceedings of the International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists 16, 10391048.Google Scholar
Shukla, S. K., Yadav, R. L., Suman, A. & Singh, P. N. (2008). Improving rhizospheric environment and sugarcane ratoon yield through bioagents amended farm yard manure in udic ustrochrept soil. Soil & Tillage Research 99, 158168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh, D. & Singh, S. M. (2004). Agrotechniques for multiple ratooning in sugarcane. Indian Journal of Agronomy 49, 285287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh, K. P., Suman, A., Singh, P. N. & Srivastava, T. K. (2007). Improving quality of sugarcane-growing soils by organic amendments under subtropical climatic conditions of India. Biology and Fertility of Soils 44, 367376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Speir, T. W., Horswell, J., van schaik, P. P., MacLaren, R. G. & Fietje, G. (2004). Composted biosolids enhance fertility of a sandy loam soil under dairy pasture. Biology and Fertility of Soils 40, 349358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Srivastava, T., Singh, A. K. & Srivastava, S. N. (2002). Critical period of crop-weed competition in sugarcane ratoon. Indian Journal of Weed Science 34, 320321.Google Scholar
Sundara, B. (1987). Improving sugarcane productivity under moisture stress constraints and thorough cropping systems. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Sugarcane Varietal Improvement: Present Status and Future Thrusts, September 1987, Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India (Eds Mohan Naidu, K., Sreenivasan, T. V. & Premachandran, M. N.), pp. 5782. Tamil Nadu, India: Sugarcane Breeding Institute.Google Scholar
Sundara, B. (1998). Sugarcane Cultivation. New Delhi, India: Vikas Publishing House.Google Scholar
Sundara, B. (2006). Agro-technology for multiratooning. Cooperative Sugar 37, 3752.Google Scholar
Sundara, B. & Tripathi, B. K. (1989). Available N changes and N balance under multi ratooning of sugar cane varieties in tropical vertisol. Proceedings of the International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists 23, 8088.Google Scholar
Tomar, S. S. & Tiwari, A. S. (1990). Production potential and economics of different crop sequences. Indian Journal of Agronomy 35, 3035.Google Scholar
Torres, J. S. & Villegas, F. (1993). Differentiation of soil compaction and cane stool damage. Sugarcane 1, 711.Google Scholar
Trouse, A. C. Jr (1983). Observations on under-the-row subsoiling after conventional tillage. Soil and Tillage Research 3, 6781.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vepraskas, M. J. & Miner, G. S. (1986). Effects of subsoiling and mechanical impedance on tobacco root growth. Soil Science Society of America Journal 50, 423427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verma, R. S. (2002). Sugarcane Ratoon Management. Lucknow, India: International Book Distributing Co. Pvt. Ltd.Google Scholar
Verma, S. P. & Modgal, S. C. (1983). Production potential and economics of fertilizer application as a resource constraints in maize-wheat crop sequences. Himachal Journal of Agricultural Research 9, 8992.Google Scholar
Viator, R. P., Johnson, R. M. & Richard, E. P. Jr (2005). Management of the post-harvest residue blanket. Sugar Bulletin 83, 1011.Google Scholar
Viator, R. P., Johnson, R. M., Boykin, D. L. & Richard, E. P. Jr (2009). Sugarcane postharvest residue management in a temperate climate. Crop Science 49, 10231028.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wagner, M., Rincones, C., Medina, G. & Mujika, M. (1995). Effect of the chisel plough and of irrigation on development of sugarcane in a compacted soil. Agronomica Tropical Maracay 45, 526.Google Scholar
Walkley, A. & Black, I. A. (1934). An examination of Degtjareff method for determining soil organic matter and a proposed modification of the chromic acid titration method. Soil Science 37, 2937.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yadav, D. V. & Yaduvanshi, N. P. S. (2001). Integration of green manure intercropping and fertilizer-N for yield and juice quality and better soil conditions in sugarcane grown after mustard and wheat in different plant arrangements. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 136, 199205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yadav, R. L. & Prasad, S. R. (1992). Conserving the organic matter content of the soil to sustain sugarcane yield. Experimental Agriculture 28, 5762.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yadav, R. L., Shukla, S. K., Suman, A. & Singh, P. N. (2009). Trichoderma inoculation and trash management effects on soil microbial biomass, soil respiration, nutrient uptake and yield of ratoon sugarcane under subtropical conditions. Biology and Fertility of Soils 45, 461468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar