Effect of planting methods and irrigation scheduling on growth, yield and quality of spring planted sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.)

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during 2009-2010 at the Norman E. Borlaug Crop Research Centre of Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar to assess the impact of planting methods and irrigation schedules on productivity and quality of sugarcane. Evaluation of planting methods showed that paired row planting (72.3 t/ha) being at par with FIRBS (69.1 t/ha) gave significantly higher cane yield than conventional planting (67.1 t/ha). Cane yield was not influenced significantly by different irrigation schedules. However, crop irrigated at IW: CPE 1.0 produced maximum cane yield (71.6 t/ha). Juice quality parameters were not influenced significantly by both planting methods and irrigation schedules. The water use efficiency (WUE) was maximum under paired row planting (5.01 kg/ha-cm) followed by FIRBS (4.79 kg/ha-cm) and conventional planting methods (4.65 kg/ha-cm). Crop irrigated at IW: CPE 0.5 showed maximum water use efficiency (4.86 kg/ha-cm).