Sugarcane Production

Submitted by:

De La Cruz, Kyla E.
Eguales, Jade
Hallazgo, Jherralyn G.
Solibio, Harian
Solibio, Mark Anthony
Tejada, Joan Marie T.
Yanson, Xian Paul Czyreeh L.
BSA 3 – D

Submitted to:

Ms. Mila Andrada

Crop Science 3
 Introduction

Sugarcane is a tropical plant belonging to the family

Gramineae, class monocotyledons and order glumaceae. Also,
sugarcane is a giant grass of 12 month duration. Modern day
sugarcane cultivars are complex hybrids evolved from various
species. It is known by the scientific name Saccharum
officinarum L.
Sugarcane is an important commercial crop of the country
occupying around 3.8 million hectares with an annual cane
production of around 270 million tonnes. It occupies about 2.8%
of the cultivated land area and contributes about 7.5% to the
agricultural production in the country. About 35 million farmers
grow and depend on sugarcane for their livelihood. And an equal
number of agricultural labourers earn their living by working in
sugarcane farms.
The sugar Industry is the second largest agro-based
industry, next only to Textiles, in the country. There are 435
sugar mills installed, which utilize around 40 -50% of the cane
produced, manufacturing around 15 million tonnes of sugar. About
5 lakh workmen are directly employed by the Industry besides a
host of others gaining employment in industries which utilize by-
products of sugar industry as raw material.
By-products of sugar Industry also play an important role in
the national economy. Molasses, the chief by-product, is the main
raw material for alcohol and thus for alcohol-based industries in
the country. Sugarcane bagasse (the fibrous material left over
after crushing) is the chief source of power in the sugar mills.
Excess bagasse is now being used as raw material in the paper
industry. Besides, co-generation of power using bagasse as fuel
is considered feasible in most sugar mills. Another by-product,
pressmud, contains considerable amount of plant nutrients and
could be an important source of organic matter, major and
micronutrients. Sugarcane green tops are used as cattle feed. In
urban areas sugarcane juice has great demand as a thirst
quencher. In many of our festivals, sugarcane is an important
item of worship.
 History

Saccharum is the Latin name proposed by Linne in 1753 as a

derivation from Karkara and Sakkara from Sanskrit and Prakrit.
It is the opinion of many explorers that sugarcane had its
origin in Saccharum barberi Jesweit of North India, and that
Saccharum officinarum had Polynesian origin.
Barber and Jesweit (1930) indicated that Saccharum
officinarum evolved in Malaysia - Indonesia-Papua-new Guinea
region or in the islands of Polynesia or Melanesia groups.
Brandes et al. have mentioned in records of their expedition
during 1928 that maximum diversity was noted in New Guinea from
where Saccharum officnarum_ might have evolved and since S.
robustum was endemic to this area, the latter may be the ancestor
of the former. It was accepted then as both the species had
chromosome number of 2n= 80. Warner and Grassl also confirmed it
after the expedition in 1957.

Sugarcane Management

Variety

Soil requirement of Sugarcane

Sugarcane can be grown an all types of soils ranging from
sandy loam to clay loam. It, however, thrives best on well
drained soils. It can also be raised successfully on lighter
soils provided there is adequate irrigation facilities and on
heavy clays with proper drainage and addition of organic matter.
Saline, alkaline and acidic soils are not at all suitable for
sugarcane. For cultivation of sugarcane, the soils should be
viewed both by their physical and chemical characteristics.
Field preparation
Land preparation for sugarcane starts with clearing the
preceding crop residues. Then, Tillage operations through tractor
drawn implements are most ideal and quick. But larger fields are
preferred for tractor operations. For initial ploughing mould
board ploughs or disc ploughs are used. Whenever, soil turning is
desired, a mould board plough should be used. When the soil is
hard, uneven, or is having more crop stubbles, a disc plough is
preferable. After initial one or two ploughings, the soil must be
allowed to weather for a week or two before going for further
tillage operations. The secondary tillage operations are carried
out using either disc harrows, tyne harrows or rotavator. After
this, a fairly leveled field is important to ensure a uniform
crop stand. If the field is uneven, there will not be proper
distribution of irrigation water. This would affect germination
as well as further crop growth. Therefore field levelling
maintaining a gentle slope to facilitate easy movement. Levelling
can be carried out using a tractor operated leveller. Organic
manure addition at the time of soil preparation is very important
to improve and maintain soil fertility and productivity and thus
to realise higher yields year after year. For sustainable
sugarcane production the importance of organic matter needs no
emphasis. If the organic matter applied is well decomposed there
is no necessity to wait for plating. If fresh green manure or
pressmud applied planting should be done only after complete
decomposition otherwise the plant stand is very poor. Fertilizers
are applied to sugarcane from the beginning of planting through
the whole growth cycle but not during the ripening period.
Optimum amounts of fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus, and
potassium) vary greatly with soil types, climatic conditions, and
the kind and length of the growing cycle. To secure a good crop,
weeds in the cane fields must be attacked until the cane stools
develop a good canopy, which checks weed growth. Weeding, still
largely manual, is done with a hoe, though mechanical cane
weeders with attached rakes have been developed. Chemical
herbicides are widely used.
 Harvesting

Early varieties are harvested at 10 months stage, mid-late

10-12 months and late after 12 month stage.
The mature cane is harvested by both manual and mechanical
means. Some mechanical harvesters are able to sever and discard
the tops of erect crops and cut cane stalks, which are delivered
into a bin trailer for transport to the mill by tractor or light
railway wagon.

Reference:
Ikisan. Sugarcane. Accessed Nov.08, 2023 from
https:www/ikisan.com