Adoption of bio-intensive IPM for sustainable sugarcane production

Abstract

Sugarcane is a long duration agro-industrial crop. It remains in field whole year where it faces vagaries of nature i.e. all season of the year. As it is repository of sweetness, it is attacked by insect pests. These attack sugarcane from planting to harvest which include borers, sucking pests, defoliators and subterranean pests. Out of these, about one dozen major insect pests are responsible for causing heavy losses of sugarcane throughout different crop growth stages. According to an estimate, cane yield declines by 20-25% and sugar recovery about 1-2 unit due to infestation of these pests. Bio-intensive integrated pest management (BIPM) involving proactive and reactive strategies facilitates to achieve sustainable yield and quality and monetary benefits to farmers and sugar mills and brings out healthy environment.