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Sugarcane Farming Tips: Improved sugarcane varieties CO 86032, Jalandhar-85, CO 265 VM and VSI 8005 are giving better production to the farmers. Farmers are cultivating these varieties on a large scale and getting good yields.
Sugarcane farming in Chhattisgarh is continuously proving beneficial for the farmers. Due to low cost, long production period and better yield potential, many farmers of the state are adopting it as a cash crop. Senior Agriculture Development Officer Keshav Ram Piedda said that sugarcane is a perennial crop. Once sown, farmers can get production for five years continuously. This reduces the cost of farming to a great extent. There is continuity of income.
Sugarcane cultivation requires high humidity and hot climate. The climate of Chhattisgarh is quite favorable for it, where the temperature of 26 to 32 degrees Celsius is considered best for its growth. The state is also favorable for this crop from the soil point of view. Sugarcane can be easily grown from light loamy soil to Kanhar soil. In Chhattisgarh, improved sugarcane varieties CO 86032, Jalandhar-85, CO 265 VM and VSI 8005 are giving better production to the farmers. In Balod district, farmers are cultivating these varieties on a large scale and are getting good yields.
4,000 plants needed in one acre
Pidda said that for sowing sugarcane, farmers require 20 to 30 quintals of seeds per acre. Whereas if farmers want to adopt plantation method, then about 4,000 plants are required per acre. Land preparation is the most important stage of sugarcane cultivation. For this, the first plowing should be done with a Palau Nagar having two teeth. After this, plowing should be done twice with the cultivator, once horizontally and once obliquely. Finally, by running a rotavator, the soil should be made crumbly and drains should be prepared using the ridge method, so that the distribution of water and nutrients can be better.
Irrigation should be done in 20 days
Regarding fertilizer management, he said that in one acre area, farmers require about 3 tonnes of compost, 80 kg DAP, 142 kg urea, 40 kg potash and 10 kg zinc sulphate. This combination provides balanced nutrition to the crop and helps in increasing the yield. Irrigation management is also an important part of sugarcane production. Farmers should irrigate 8 to 10 times at an interval of 15 – 20 days. Whereas the first irrigation is required immediately after sowing the seeds. Timely irrigation helps in the growth of the crop and increasing the sugar percentage. At present, farmers in Chhattisgarh are getting an average yield of 350 to 400 quintals per acre. Sugarcane farmers in the state are getting payment on the basis of support price of Rs 390 per quintal, due to which there is a good increase in the income of the farmers.
