Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Suits: Soil 8/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 1,790 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 390 mm it can use in a normal year, and 350 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 / 25 °C
- Jul 31 °C / 23 °C
- Aug 30 °C / 22 °C
- Sep 30 °C / 22 °C
- Oct 32 °C / 20 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 16 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 30 °C / 14 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 29 °C / 14 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 33 °C / 17 °C
- Mar 37 °C / 21 °C
- Apr 40 °C / 25 °C
- May 42 °C / 27 °C
- Jun 37 °C / 25 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Sugarcane: 8 out of 10 (good).
- 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.
- Most fields here are short of sulphur.
Likes pH 5.0–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 303 quintals an acre here in this season (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 government's fair and remunerative price for cane, ₹365 a quintal.
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 366 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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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.
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Short of sulphur Your soil is likely short of sulphur.
Use single super phosphate instead of DAP, or add about 100 kg of gypsum per acre before sowing.
About 48% of local fields of this crop get it.
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Short of zinc Your soil is likely short of zinc.
Mix 10 kg of zinc sulphate per acre into the soil before sowing. One dose lasts two or three seasons.
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 98%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 48%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 48%
- Urea Ammonium Phosphate 35%