Abstract

                                Ranganathan et al. (1964) reported that the addition of phosphate and potash both in low and high doses neither increased the yield nor improved the juice quality of sugarcane in the Nellikuppam factory zone. In this experiment phosphate was added as super to soil at planting. Since phosphates applied to soil in such a soluble form get more or less fixed up it is not unlikely that the a absence of response to phosphates in the experiment is to some extent atleast caused by such fixation, which makes phosphate non- available in adequate quantity. Response to phosphates should therefore, be tested under conditions which do not favour soil fixation before the utility of phosphate fertilisers to sugarcane in the tract is finally settled. Accordingly, an experiment with different phosphate carriers was conducted in the Sugarcane Research Station, Cuddalore for three years and results obtained are presented and discussed in this paper.

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