Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
- Suits: Ideal temperatures
- Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.
Needs about 1,710 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 390 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 30 °C / 22 °C
- Jul 27 °C / 21 °C
- Aug 27 °C / 21 °C (outside its best range)
- Sep 28 °C / 20 °C
- Oct 30 °C / 19 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 17 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 30 °C / 14 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 30 °C / 14 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 32 °C / 16 °C
- Mar 35 °C / 19 °C
- Apr 37 °C / 22 °C
- May 36 °C / 23 °C
- Jun 30 °C / 22 °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.
- Most fields here are short of sulphur.
Likes pH 5.0–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 436 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 378 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 97% 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.
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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 39% of local fields of this crop get it.
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Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
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Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
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 97%
- Nitro Phosphate Potash 42%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 42%
- Zinc Sulphate Heptahydrate / Monohydrate 39%