Abstract

A field experiment was conducted at experimental farm, Sugarcane Research Station, Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu during 2013 to 2014 in sugarcane cv. CoC (SC) 24 plant crop to standardize the fertilizer schedule with 100, 125 and 150% of the recommended NPK through surface and sub-surface drip fertigation on growth characters, yield and yield attributing characters, plant nutrient content and uptake pattern of nutrients by sugarcane under Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative (SSI) method. The results of the experiment revealed that sub-surface drip irrigation system increased the cane yield and uptake of nutrients than surface drip irrigation method. Maximum tiller population of 176520/ha was recorded with sub-surface drip irrigation with 150% recommended dose of fertilizers followed by sub-surface fertigation with 125% recommended dose of fertilizers (163320/ha). Application of 150% recommended levels of NPK produced maximum cane yield (132.69 t/ha) followed by 125% recommended NPK (129.69 t/ha) and on a par with each other. Irrigation and fertilizer did not significantly influence the CCS content. Fertigation of 125% recommended dose of NPK recorded higher sugar yield of 16.62 t/ha. The higher benefit: cost ratio of 3.01 per rupee invested was observed in treatment received 125% recommended NPK under sub-surface drip fertigation system. The highest NPK uptake of 193.92, 91.57 and 375.89 kg/ha was noticed by the 150% recommended NPK. The 125% recommended NPK @ 375: 125: 250 kg/ha was the suitable type and level of fertilizer for obtaining high yield and quality of sugarcane under SSI system of sugarcane planting. SSI is the first step towards standardization of sugarcane cultivation focusing on improving productivity while reducing the agriculture foot print on planet earth.