Abstract

The State of Madras is happily situated climatically with regard to the growth of sugarcane and excepting in the hilly district of the Nilgiris, sugarcane is being grown in all the other districts. The heavy concentration of area is in the districts of South Arcot, North Arcot, Tiruchirapalli and Coimbatore. There is a slight climatic disadvantage for the State from the point of recovery of sugar and jaggery. The temperature during the ripening period is not low enough for the cane to cease its vegetative growth and divert its energies for the accumulation of sugar. Thus, given similar conditions, the State of Maharashtra and the northern parts of Mysore and Andhra Pradesh have an advantage over Madras from the climatic point of view for higher recovery. It is thus essential that the slight disadvantage in the lower recovery should be made up by higher yields through varieties, fertilisation, irrigation and other cultural practices, thereby producing maximum of sugar/jaggery per acre.

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