Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 24 irrigations short
- Needs care: Cool in November
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 24 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 1,560 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 400 mm it can use in a normal year, and 310 mm in a dry year.
Temperature
Grows best at 24–37 °C on average, and survives 15–41 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Jun 37 °C / 26 °C
- Jul 33 °C / 26 °C
- Aug 33 °C / 26 °C
- Sep 33 °C / 25 °C
- Oct 33 °C / 21 °C
- Nov 29 °C / 14 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 24 °C / 10 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 21 °C / 8 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 26 °C / 12 °C (outside its best range)
- Mar 32 °C / 16 °C
- Apr 38 °C / 21 °C
- May 39 °C / 25 °C
- Jun 37 °C / 26 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Sugarcane: 7 out of 10 (okay).
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 5.0–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 253 quintals an acre here (district figures).
Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.
Priced at the cane price Uttar Pradesh fixed for its mills for 2025-26: ₹390 a quintal, ₹400 for early varieties.
- ₹300 2021
- ₹300 2022
- ₹300 2023
- ₹330 2024
- ₹350 2025
Prices are usually best in May.
Typical costs are about ₹61,000 an acre (seed, fertiliser, labour and hired machines, from the government's cost survey). They are spent whatever the harvest.
How to make it work
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 334 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of nitrogen Your soil is likely short of nitrogen.
Add about a quarter more urea than the usual dose, in two or three splits. A pulse crop in rotation also adds nitrogen.
About 88% of local fields of this crop get it.
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Short of organic carbon Your soil is likely short of organic carbon.
Add 4 tonnes of compost or farmyard manure per acre before sowing, and plough crop leftovers back in instead of burning them.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Urea 88%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 60%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 15%
- Zinc Sulphate Heptahydrate / Monohydrate 14%