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 1,630 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 410 mm it can use in a normal year, and 330 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 29 °C / 20 °C
- Sep 29 °C / 20 °C
- Oct 29 °C / 20 °C
- Nov 28 °C / 19 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 28 °C / 17 °C (outside its best range)
- Jan 30 °C / 17 °C (outside its best range)
- Feb 32 °C / 18 °C
- Mar 34 °C / 21 °C
- Apr 34 °C / 22 °C
- May 33 °C / 22 °C
- Jun 30 °C / 21 °C
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Sugarcane: 8 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen.
- The pH here suits it.
- Many fields here are short of potassium, which it needs a lot.
- Most fields here are short of zinc.
- Most fields here are short of iron.
Likes pH 5.0–8.0.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 360 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 394 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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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.
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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 92%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 90%
- Muriate of Potash (MOP) 69%
- Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 31%