Productivity and Profitability of Spring Sugarcane
(Saccharum officinarum L.) under different Planting Patterns
Designed for Mechanized Intercultivation
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Author:Nirdesh kumar , Amit Bhatnagar , Subash Chandra and Gurvinder Singh
p-ISSN:0024-9602, e-ISSN:2582-5321, Vol:102, Issue:jan-mar
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29321/MAJ.10.001064
Abstract
A field experiment was conducted at Pantnagar during spring 2012 to study the performance
of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) under different planting geometries tailored for
mechanized intercultivation. The experiment consisted of eight planting geometry treatments
viz; 60 cm single row (T1 ), 75 cm single row (T 2 ), 45/105 cm pair (T 3 ), 45/150 cm pair (T 4 ), 45/225
cm pair (T 5
), 60/90 cm pair (T6 ), 60/150 cm pair (T7
) and 60/225 cm pair (T 8
) was laid in randomized
block design with three replications. Weeding and interculture operations were carried out
both using cultivator and manually in T 1 and T2 , by power weeder in T 3 and T 6, by power tiller
in T 4 and T 7 and by tractor drawn small harrow in T 5 and T 8
. The results indicated that the
planting geometries having pair row spacing of 60 cm (i.e. 60/90, 60/150 and 60/225 cm) recorded
significantly more yield attributing characters viz; number of millable canes, cane length,
cane girth, number of internodes per cane and individual cane weight than rest of the planting
geometries. Paired row spacing of 60/90 cm being at par with 60/150 and 60/225 cm produced
significantly higher cane yield (84.24 t ha -1 ) than rest of the planting geometries. The maximum
gross (Rs. 217,836 ha -1 ) and net return (Rs. 152,769 ha -1 ) were obtained from 60/90 cm and that
B:C ratio from 60/225 cm paired spacing (2.96).
Key words : Planting geometry, Intercultivation, Sugarcane, Yield