Response of Ratoon Sugarcane to Stubble Shaving, Off-barring, Root Pruning and Band Placement of Basal Fertilisers with a Multi-purpose Drill Machine

Abstract

The high load and tough nature of loose trash generated after sugarcane harvest hampers the fertiliser placement and other field operations; therefore, open burning is a common practice in ratoon sugarcane. In situ retention of sugarcane trash can play an important role in replenishing soil quality and reducing environmental pollution, but there is a lack of suitable machine for placement of fertilisers. To address this and other issues for low yields of ratoon sugarcane, a prototype of multi-purpose machine was developed for operations like stubble shaving, off-barring, root pruning and drilling of basal fertilisers, and evaluated with ten on-farm trials on black soils varying in texture (clay 27–44 % and fertility (Org-C 4.4–9.3 g kg−1). The improvement in cane yields averaged 16 and 11 % over the trash burning (farmer’s practice) and chopping followed by recommended practices of fertiliser application (0.45, 0.45 and 0.10 N as basal, at earthing-up and onset of monsoon rains, respectively) while the nitrogen uptake efficiency (NUE) improved by 9.9 %. Band placement of double the dose of N as basal rather than the recommended two splits as basal and at earthing-up further boosted the initial growth and improved the cane yields and NUE by 22 and 11 % over farmer’s practice. Therefore, the fine-tuning of this prototype should offer a practical and economic solution of trash burning problem in sugarcane cultivation.