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 1,610 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 470 mm it can use in a normal year, and 360 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 / 21 °C
- Jul 28 °C / 20 °C
- Aug 28 °C / 20 °C
- Sep 28 °C / 20 °C
- Oct 28 °C / 19 °C (outside its best range)
- Nov 27 °C / 18 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 27 °C / 16 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 28 °C / 15 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 31 °C / 17 °C (outside its best range)
- Mar 34 °C / 19 °C
- Apr 34 °C / 21 °C
- May 34 °C / 22 °C
- Jun 30 °C / 21 °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.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, 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 366 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.
- ₹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 399 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
-
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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
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.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
Short of iron Your soil is likely short of iron.
Spray ferrous sulphate, 5 g per litre of water, when young leaves turn yellow.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.
-
Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.
Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.
Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to add for this crop.