Snags in sugarcane production
The highest average per acre yield of sugarcane recorded in Punjab was 690 maund per acre in 2007-08, while the lowest was 566mds/acre in NWFP the same year. The average per hectare yield of cane during the last few years remained between 45 and 50 tons, which is one of the poorest among the 16 sugarcane growing countries. The sugarcane yield is quite low, 500-800 mds/acre.. The gap between potential and actual yield is very wide due to poor management practices and post-harvest losses.
Instead of mechanised, traditional methods are mostly used in sugarcane management with labour as an important input. The growers are mostly unaware of modern techniques and proper use of farm yard manure (FYM), inter-culturing, fertiliser application, sprays and timely irrigation. All these factors result in poor per acre yield. The post harvest losses mainly because of improper handling, harvesting and inadequate transport facilities, add to the already poor yield.
A study was conducted to identify the factors that lead to low sugarcane production and to explain various sugarcane production systems in the country.
Land preparation: Sugarcane is a deep-rooted crop and hence it needs proper preparation of land. The land should be deeply ploughed at least after every subsequent year. It was found that while the main source of ploughing was tractor, 62.5 per cent, followed by tractor and animal, 34.9 per cent and 2.6 per cent animals. An average one hour of ploughings of cultivator and goble and 1.5 planking were applied by farmers respectively. Planting seasons: Sugarcane is mainly planted in spring and autumn. Autumn planted cane is usually better in yield and high in sugar recovery. In fact, October planted cane gives very luxuriant growth, which is mostly vulnerable to lodging. It was found that 27 per cent of growers planted sugarcane in February, 21 per cent in October, 16 per cent in March and 11 per cent in September. While 25 per cent of the growers in the study area planted the crop in spring (Feb-March) and in autumn (Sept-Nov) seasons respectively
Planting method: The most common method of cane planting is “overlapping”, “end to end” and “double set” methods. The overall per acre cost for planting/sowing was recorded at Rs872 respectively. Furthermore, it was observed that none of the sample respondents used seed treatment before planting of the crop.
Farm yard manure: Farmers generally use farmyard manure for cane crop in order to increase soil fertility for better yield. Well rotten farmyard manure applied prior to land preparation and addition of press mud from the sugar industry is excellent source of organic matter and nutrients for the crop. It was observed that in NWFP farmers applied an average of 3.7 tractor trolleys per acre of farmyard manure followed by Punjab 2.5 tractor trolleys per acre, whereas very low use of farmyard manure was seen in Sindh about 0.3 trolleys per acre.
Sugarcane varieties: Sugarcane variety adoption in Sindh was analysed and found that overall THATTA-10 was the dominant variety and accounted for about 51.3 per cent during 2006-07 and slightly decreased to 49 per cent during 2007-08. The other recommended varieties included BL-4 and SPSG-26; which were grown by 13.18 and 4.5 per cent in 2006-07, while BL-4 and SPSG-26 had an increasing trend in the next cropping year acquiring 15.96 and 6.60 per cent respectively during 2007-08. The varieties BL-4 and THATTA-10 were being adopted because of high sucrose content, more than 18 per cent. The other varieties Gulabi-95, NIA-98, L-113, L-116 and PR-1000 were in the initial stages of adoption. About 23 and 22 per cent of sugarcane acreage was allocated to non-recommended varieties during 2006-07 and 2007-08 respectively.
Sugarcane varieties — TRITON and CP-20/72 — were the non-recommended cultivars grown on an area of 16.94 and 4.04 per cent during 2006. However, the farmers are continuing cultivation of TRITON and CP-20/72, non-recommended cultivars, on account of certain characteristic of these varieties, especially for white colour Gur (molasses), etc.
In Punjab it was found that overall HSF-240 was the leading variety and was planted on about 21.9 per cent during 2006-07 and about 36.7 per cent during 2007-08. The other major RSV included SPSG-79 and CPF-237; which were grown on 4.9 and 4.3 per cent during year 2006-07, which increased during 2007-08 acquiring 4.3 and 4.9 per cent respectively. These varieties were adopted because of high sucrose content.
In NWFP, it was found that overall CP-77-400 was the leading variety and accounted for about 98 per cent during 2006-07 and 2007-08 in the total sugarcane acreage. A small area of almost two per cent of the overall sugarcane acreage was allocated to non-recommended varieties.
Fertiliser: Most of the growers used only nitrogenous fertilisers while others used an unbalanced combination of nitrogen and phosphorous. Use of potassium was almost negligible in cane crop. Use of proper doses of balanced fertilisers is very important to obtain maximum yield of cane crop. It was found that farmers applied urea on an average of five bags per acre in Sindh followed by an average of four bags per acre in NWFP and three bags per acre in Punjab.
Weeding: Weeds in sugarcane restrict the light, nutrients and moisture to the crop and also serve as alternative hosts for many insect pests reducing the yield and adversely affecting the quality of the cane. For proper weed control, Gesapax combi (80 WP) may be applied at the rate of 1.4 kg per acre in medium textured soils and at the rate of 1.8 kg per acre in heavy soils in 100 to 120 litres of water. It is better to use weedicide with the advice of technical experts.
Irrigation: The recommended number of irrigation is 26-33 for autumn crop and 21-26 for spring crop. Results show that 62 per cent used canal water followed by canal and tube-well 35 and only eight per cent used tube well for irrigation purpose. Whereas the average availability of canal water per 6th turn was for 15 hours, while 80 per cent annual, 12 per cent seasonal availability of canal water.
Harvesting: Sugarcane harvesting is done by hand, which is labour intensive. On an average, one person can harvest 25 mds (10,000 kg) of cane in a day. The right time for harvesting sugarcane is when the crop is 12-14 months old. The harvested cane has a sugar content of about 10 per cent. The roots are left in the ground as they will eventually sprout and grow to form the next crop. After cutting, the cane is stripped, topped and bound in bundles of 10-15 kg for loading. Harvested cane should be sent to the mill within 24-48 hours of cutting, since later transportation will result in sugar loss.
Snags in production: Sugarcane production is a complex process and can be conceived as a function of several variables. The knowledge of the relative importance of the resource inputs influencing sugarcane production is essential for the sugarcane growers for introducing desirable changes in their operation at the micro level, and for the policy makers for formulating plans for improvements in agricultural sector productivity based on sound economic principles at the macro level. Production practices such as, soil type, planting time, varieties, inputs use and availability of irrigation water; they all have considerable impact on sugarcane production.
Problems and constraints: The major constraints in sugarcane production were asked from the growers. Further they were divided in three categories, such as economic, technical, and social problems.
The economic problems and constraints were related to the financial difficulties, which were lack of capital, high prices of input, low price of output, and late payments etc.
All farmers said that high price of inputs was an acute problem in the way of cane production. Procurement problems were another major problem for the growers in the study area. Lack of resources was also an important problem the cane growers were facing compounding the situation by low price of the output.
Technical constraints were related to production techniques and technologies, such as lack of scientific knowledge, land preparation, seeds, pesticides and insecticides, inadequate irrigation, and natural calamities, etc. Social problems were related to theft of sugarcane, cutting tops, most of the farmers reported that the villagers were habituated to cut the tops of sugarcane for using it as cattle feed. Sugarcane is an attractive and tasty crop, people; especially children are generally attracted to it. Chewing of cane was third social problems reported by sugarcane growers in the study area.
The present research was undertaken to identify the factors affecting sugarcane production in the country. Data were collected from 387 sugarcane growers of Sindh, Punjab and NWFP province during the period 2007-08.
The study reveals that the input costs of sugarcane i.e. urea, DAP, FYM, land preparation, seed and its application, weeding and cost of irrigation were the important factors which influenced the returns of sugarcane growers. High prices of inputs, procurement problem, and low price of output and lack of scientific knowledge were the major problems in sugarcane production cost.