Morphology,Cultivation,Area of cultivation&High yielding Varieties(HYV) of Sugarcane(Saccharum officinarum) Dr VISHAL SHARMA Assoc. Prof. Botany Department Government Post Graduate College For Girls-11,Chandigarh

BOTANICAL NAME:Saccharum officinarum Family:Poaceae(Graminae) Part used:Stem Introduction:Sugarcane is a perennial monocotyledonous giant grass.The plant is a perennial grass(10-20 ft).The stem is solid and jointed.The stems are supported by prop stilt roots which arise from several root initials of the lower nodes.The stem bearsinflorescence,but only few seeds are formed.The flowering extends from late September to December in the Northern hemisphere

Cultivation: Sugarcane does well in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world.It grows,well in moist hot regions where average rainfall is cm annually. The plant is propagated by stem cuttings of lengths, known as seed cane or seed setts or seed pieces. The growing period of the crop varies from about 10 months in the early maturing varieties to as many as 18 months in the late maturing varieties. In ratoioning,the dormant buds on the portion of cane left underground after harvesting sprout in2-3 wks producind a new crop knwn as stubble or ratoon crop.

Area of Cultivation Area under sugarcane cultivation has been divided into 5 zones, viz Peninsular zone, North-western zone, North-central zone, North-east zone and East Coast zones with well- knit system of Sugarcane Research Stations under the State Agricultural Universities. The zones widely vary in productivity of sugarcane and sugar recovery. Uttar Pradesh produces maximum sugar accounting for more than 44% of India's total production. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are the other important producing states. Soil Sugarcane grows best on medium heavy soils, but can also be raised on lighter soils and heavy clays, provided there is adequate irrigation available in the former type of soils and drainage is good in the latter type of soils. In northern India, it is cultivated largely on the loams and clay loams of the Gangetic and other alluviums, whereas in Peninsular India, it is grown on brown or reddish loams, laterites and black cotton soilsIn some areas in Peninsular India,where the soils are heavy, 70 to 100 cartloads of sand or red earth are added to the soil per hectare to improve its texture. Similarly, in sandy soils, tank silt is added to improve their water-holding capacity

Season: Sugarcane is able to grow over a prolonged season. Under warm humid conditions, it can continue its growth, unless terminated by flowering. However, its height is strongly influenced by the age of the crop and season. Temperatures above 50°C arrest its growth; those below 20°C slow it down markedly and severe frost proves fatal. The crop does best in the tropical regions receiving a rainfall of 750 to 1,200 mm. It can also be grown in sub-tropical areas, but where the climate is subject to extremes, and the dry season is long, the growth period of the crop is restricted to a bare four months in the year, and the yields tend to be distinctly lower than those in the tropics. In northern India, planting is usually done with the onset of the warm weather and is completed well before the onset of summer. Thus broadly speaking, the first fortnight of March is the best time for planting sugarcane in the Punjab and Haryana, February in Uttar Pradesh and January-February in Bihar. In actual practice, however, most of the planting tends to be late, rather than early. On large farms in northern India, where planting work is likely to be prolonged, a part of the planting is also undertaken in October-November. Rotation In northern India, sugarcane is grown in rotation with wheat, cotton, gram, lahi (Brassica napus), maize, jowar, peas and other crops. The practice of taking potato, dwarf wheat, sugar-beet, toria, coriander (dhania,) berseem and turnip as companion crops in the inter- spaces of the autumn planting is gaining popularity in the northern region of the country

Cultivation Sugarcane requires a very thorough and clean preparation of land. In Peninsular India, where sugarcane soils are mostly clays and clay loams, one o two deep ploughings and one cross-ploughing with a mould board plough are necessary. These operations should be followed by clod-crushing with a disc-harrow, or a junior cultivator or a beam clod- crusher or even with wooden mallets and stout sticks. In the alluvial loams of northern India, cultivators usually prepare their fields after winter rains, but when these rains fail, the fields are given a preparatory irrigation. After it, when the soil comes into vattar (right stage of moisture) it is cultivated quickly and thoroughly with a desi plough till it is reduced to a fine tilth. Cattle manure, compost and other slow-acting bulky organic materials are usually applied to the soil and incorporated into it well in advance of planting. This practice helps to decompose the manures and makes the nutrients available.Wherecane is green-manured, the leguminous crop should be ploughed under about a month before planting the cane. In northern India, however, where a cold season intervenes, the green-manure crop is ploughed under in September and cane is planted several months later.

Sugarcane is planted either in furrows or trenches. Depending on the method of planting and the fertility of the soil, furrows or trenches are made half to one-and-a-half metres apart. Comparatively narrow spacings are adopted in northern India, where yields are usually low, whereas wider spacings are common in Peninsular India where the aim is to obtain high yields. Furrows are made with a padded desi plough are quite shallow, being about 10 cm deep, whereas those made with a ridger are about 20 cm deep. Where trench- planting is adopted, trenches are dug by hand-labour, using pick-axes and spades, and may be up to 25 cm deep. On large farms, all preparatory cultivation, including ploughing, clod-crushing, harrowing, and ridge-making are mechanized. The adequacy of moisture is very necessary for the setts. In Peninsular India, arrangements for irrigation are made well before planting. In northern India and in Bihar, care is taken to conserve as much moisture in the soil as possible, so that the planted cane is able to germinate satisfactorily. All the same, as the planting is necessarily done during the comparatively dry season, considerable loss of moisture from the soil and setts takes place, and usually only 30 to 40 per cent of the buds germinate.

Seed Healthy seed material, free from pests and diseases, and having high viability is essential for establishing the crop in the first instance Before planting, the leaves of the cane stalks are stripped off by hand in order that buds on them may not be damaged. These stalks are then cut into 3-bud setts each usually 30 to 50 cm long. If seed is required at a distant place, whole canes should be transported without stripping off the leaves or cutting them into setts. To prevent rotting and infection with the disease, the dipping of the setts into suitable fungicide, such as 0.5 per cent mercuric chloride or 0.25 per cent Aretan or Agallol solution or 1 kg of Perenox in 400 litres of water is recommended Methods of Planting There are three methods of planting, viz, flat-planting, furrow-planting and trench- planting. (1) Flat-planting. In the case of this method, shallow furrows are opened with a desi plough, 80 to 100 cm apart; the setts are placed in them end to end and covered with 5 to 7 cm of soil, and the field is levelled with a heavy plank (sohaga). (2) Furrow-planting. Furrows are made with a ridger, about 10 to 15 cm deep, in northern India and about 20 cm deep in Peninsular India. Setts are laid end to end or otherwise in the furrows and covered with 5 to 7 cm of soil, leaving the upper portion of the furrow unfilled. Immediately after planting and covering the setts, water is let into the furrow

(3) Trench planting: Trenches, 20 to 25 cm deep and rectangular or trapezoidal in section, are made either by manual labour or with a tractor-drawn ridger; the bottom of the furrow is loosened by digging. Shallow furrows are made in the bed of the trench and the setts are placed end to end or otherwise in the furrows and covered, as in the case of flat- planting. Water is then let into the trenches.. In most parts of northern India and Bihar, and in the Malnad tract of Karnataka, cane is planted on flatland. Furrow-planting is practised in parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh and in Peninsular India. Interculture and After-Care The first hoeing and weeding should be given to the crop three to four weeks after planting. But in northern India, usually the shoots take a long time to emerge and mean- while the weeds, particularly the nutgrass come up rapidly in the planted field. The use of bullock-drawn implements, like blade harrows for mulching, junior hoes for interculture and weeding and ridgers for earthing up and covering the fertilizer, lessen the costs of these operations. The final earthing-up should be completed before the monsoon rains, and should generally synchronize with the application of the final dose of fertilizer. Good care in weeding and interculture helps the clumps to tiller early and form canes

Fertilizer and Nutrient Management Sugarcane is a heavy feeder. A 70-tonne crop removes from the soil 85 to 110 kg of nitrogen, 180 to 330 kg of calcium. Adequate manuring, therefore, is essential for sustained high yields. Farmyard manure, compost, groundnut-cake, blood meal, fish-meal and several oilcake have been tried in sugarcane.Incorporation of trash (5 tonnes/ha) with fertilizer N (75 k/ha) increased the sugarcane yield at Lucknow. Pocket manuring, blending urea with neem-cake or coal tar, spray application of urea and diammonium phosphate have improved both cane and sugar yields besides improving fertilizer-use efficiency. Harvesting The maturity of sugarcane is generally recognized by the lower leaves gradually withering up and leaving progressively fewer green leaves at the top Before cutting the crop, it is customary to give the cane field a good irrigation, although under conditions obtaining in northern India, this irrigation does little or no good. Stalks are cut at the ground level, preferably after digging down the earthed-up ridges. The dried leaves are stripped off from the topmost mature internode where the stalks usually break easily. The harvested canes should always be processed quickly. In northern India, during the cold season, the harvested canes kept in shade may maintain the quality of the juice in a good condition for a day or two, but they lose in weight unless they are kept moist.

Fertigation of SUGAR FIELDS

High Yielding Varieties Co312: -Cultivated in U.P,M.P,Haryana,M.P and Rajasthan -Good ratooner,resistant to drought and frost -suitable for making sugar and Gur Co.453: -Cultivated in Punjab and Haryana, -responsive to manuring,resistant to Borer and Red rot’ -Fibre content of cane high -moderate tillering and satisfactory ratooning B.O.17: -Cultivated in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar; -tolerant to water logged conditions; -tolerant to Borer,Smut and Red rot; - moderate tillering and satisfactory ratooning

USES OF SUGARCANE