Availability of N, P, K and Their Relationship between Organic Carbon under Sugarcane-Ratoon- Wheat Cropping System in Western Uttar Pradesh Provinces, India

A study was conducted in the Meerut district of western Uttar Pradesh to evaluate the Soil characterization of sugarcane- ratoon- wheat cropping system. The soil samples were analyzed for various parameters in the laboratory. The status of available NPK in soils and other soil properties like pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and organic carbon (OC) content were assessed. Results reveal that the soils of the study area were sandy loam in texture, slightly alkaline in reaction and non-saline in nature. Nutrient status regarding available nitrogen is low in surface (0-15 cm) and subsurface (15-30 cm) soil while phosphorous and potassium low to medium in ranged at surface and subsurface also show that the availability of nutrient is decline gradually with increasing soil depth. A positively significant correlation of N, P, and K with organic carbon content was found.

Impact of habitat manipulation on the diversity and abundance of beneficial and pest arthropods in sugarcane ratoon

Prabowo H, Rahardjo BT, Mudjiono G, Rizali A. 2021. Impact of habitat manipulation on the diversity and abundance of beneficial and pest arthropods in sugarcane ratoon. Biodiversitas 22: 4002-4010. Sugar production in Indonesia faces several challenges such as infestation of pests and diseases that lead to decline in sugarcane production and productivity. In order to overcome the loss of yields from the presence of pests, alternative new approaches are sought by solving of the problem that can have a sustainable impact by applying habitat manipulation. Habitat manipulation changes the diversity and density of arthropods populations in agro-ecosystem. In the concept of managing agroecosystems with habitat manipulation, it is hoped that the development of agro-ecosystem resilience against pest management will be expected to be suistainable. The results showed that there was an increase in the number of arthropods in the research area for 20 weeks after the management of agro-ecosystems through habitat manipulation. The arthropods in all the traps were dominated by Collembola, Diptera, Coleoptera, Aranea, and Hymenoptera. There were 44 genera that belong to predators and 8 species are belonging to parasitoids. The diversity index of Shannon-Wiener (H '), Simpson Dominance (C) and Species Evenness (E) was not significantly different between treatment and control, but habitat manipulation treatment was able to increase the number of detritivores, predators, parasitoids, and pollinators by 38.81; 43.88; 58.4; and 75.35%. The full role of arthropods in the food chain of the sugarcane ecosystem has been identified and efforts are needed to optimize the role of natural enemies in the agroecosystem to maintain ecosystem stability. Habitat manipulation can increase the number of beneficial insect populations in short run, but it might take time to increase their diversity in agroecosystem.

Growth-yield performances and partial economic analysis of sugarcane under different planting methods

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is an important tropical crop around the world, involving in Indonesia, however low productivity is still problem for it. The study was aimed to investigate effect of different planting methods on improving cane growth-yield performances and their partial economic analysis. The study was conducted at Gedangdowo, Jepon, Blora District, Central Java, Indonesia from 2015-2017 at initial planting (IP) to sugarcane ratoon SR-1 and SR-2. Material used was qualified seeds of PS.862 variety. Three planting methods were tested: 1) double trench system (DTS) with 50 cm distance between trench and 135 cm distance between double trenches; 2) single trench system (STS) with 120 cm distance of canter to center (CTC) and 3) STS with 110 cm distance of CTC. The experiment was arranged in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 6 replications. Results of the study revealed that DTS 50/135 was the most appropriate planting method inducing higher cane productivity up to 129.12 t/ha in IP, then increased up to 134.1 t/ha in SR-1 and declined down to 114.1 t/ha in SR-2. Percentage of cane productivity in DTS 50/135 increased up to 40.8% in IP, 51.1% in SR-1 and 64.6% in SR-2. Higher R/C ratio up to 1.99 and 1.94 was performed by STS 120 followed by DTS 50/135. Increasing R/C ratio noted in STS 120 and DTS 50/135 was 18.3 and 21.3%, respectively on SR-1 compared to STS 110. The planting method can be applied to improve sugarcane productivity and its R/C ratio for other varieties.

STUBBLE DAMAGE AND UNSETTLING INDEXES FOR DIFFERENT CUTTING AND LOADING SYSTEMS

STUBBLE DAMAGE AND UNSETTLING INDEXES FOR DIFFERENT CUTTING AND LOADING SYSTEMS EDUARDO PRISCO ANGELO1, CARLA SEGATTO STRINI PAIXÃO2, MURILO APARECIDO VOLTARELLI1 ROUVERSON PEREIRA DA SILVA3, CRISTIANO ZERBATO3 1 Centro de Ciências da Natureza, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Rodovia Lauri Simões de Barros, km 12 - SP-189 - Aracaçu, 18290-000, Buri – SP, Brasil. [email protected] 2 Departamento de Engenharia, Faculdade de Engenharia de Sorocaba, Rodovia Senador José Ermírio de Moraes, 1425 - Jardim Constantino Matucci,18085-784, Sorocaba – SP, Brasil. [email protected] 3 Centro de Ciências da Natureza, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Rodovia Lauri Simões de Barros, km 12 - SP-189 - Aracaçu, 18290-000, Buri – SP, Brasil. [email protected] 4 Departamento de Engenharia Rural, Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Júlio de Mesquita Filho’, Via de Acesso Professor Paulo Donato Castelane S/N - Vila Industrial, 14884-900, Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil. [email protected]. 5 Departamento de Engenharia Rural, Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Júlio de Mesquita Filho’, Via de Acesso Professor Paulo Donato Castelane S/N - Vila Industrial, 14884-900, Jaboticabal, SP, Brasil. [email protected]. ABSTRACT: Simultaneous mechanical cutting and loading of sugarcane may trample the remaining stumbles in the harvested area, thus increasing the damage and unsettling indexes of the stubs remaining in the ground after the harvest, which, in the end, can hamper sugarcane regrowth. To this end, this work aimed to evaluate how cutting and loading systems affect sugarcane ratoon using statistical process control. The experiment was conducted in an agricultural area in Frutal, MG, in June 2014. Mechanical harvesting was conducted at a 1.1 m s-1(4.0 km h-1) average working speed and 1.50m spacing. The statistical design used was completely randomized, based on the concepts of quality control, in which the data were collected during harvesting time. The study treatments were as follows, basal cut, and mechanical sets A, B, C and D according to equipment gauge width. The stubble damage and unsettling indexes were the parameters used to determine the quality of the process under study. Set D with the widest gauge is the best option for mechanical harvesting, loading and transporting sugarcane since it has significantly lower sugarcane stubble damage and unsettling indices compared to sets A, B, and C. Keywords: agricultural mechanization, control charts, mechanical harvest, stubble trampling, variability. RESUMO: O corte mecânico e carregamento simultâneo da cana-de-açúcar pode atropelar a palha remanescente na área colhida, aumentando os índices de danos e abalos das socas que permanecem no solo após a colheita, o que, ao final, pode dificultar a rebrota da cana-de-açúcar. Para tanto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar como os sistemas de corte e carregamento que afetam a soca de cana-de-açúcar por meio do controle estatístico do processo. O experimento foi conduzido em uma área agrícola em Frutal, MG, em junho de 2014. A colheita mecanizada foi realizada a uma velocidade média de trabalho de 1,1m s-1 (4,0 km h-1) e espaçamento de 1,50m. O delineamento estatístico utilizado foi inteiramente casualizado, em que os dados foram coletados na época da colheita. Os tratamentos estudados foram o corte basal e os conjuntos mecânicos A, B, C e D de acordo com a largura de bitola do equipamento. Dessa forma, conclui-se que o Conjunto D com a bitola mais larga é a melhor opção para colheita mecânica, carregamento e transporte da cana-de-açúcar, pois apresenta danos significativamente mais baixos à palha da cana-de-açúcar, além dos índices de abalos, quando comparados aos conjuntos A, B e C. Palavras-chave: mecanização agrícola, cartas de controle, colheita mecanizada, pisoteio de soqueira, variabilidade.

Response of Stubble Shaving Times on Ratoon Yield of Different Sugarcane Genotypes

Ratooning is common practice done in sugarcane with purpose of reducing total cost of cultivation and early cane maturity. More than 35% of sugarcane productivity is lost due to improper attention of the farmers towards ratoons. Majority of farmers reported that the ratoonability wasn’t good when harvested in December-January. This experiment was carried out to find the appropriate ratoon shaving time with response to different varieties in sugarcane ratoon crop in the year 2018/19 at National sugarcane research project, Jitpur, Bara. The experiment was conducted in split plot design with four levels of cane genotypes as Co – 0238, CoLk – 94184, Co – 0233 and CoS – 07250 as main plot factor while four harvesting dates as sub plot factor with three replications. Observations of number of millable canes, single cane weight, plant height and single cane diameter were recorded, tabulated and analyzed in R-studio. Ratoon stubble shaving in the month of November had highest number of millable canes (88079/ha) which wasn’t significantly different from the stubble shaving in the month of December, January. Likewise, highest cane yield(60.04 mt/ha), single cane weight (0.757kg), cane diameter ( 2.11cm), plant height(1.82m)were found in early stubble shaving dates . Cane Yield and various yield parameter shows better performance in early ratoon shaving periods i.e. from November to January than late ratoon shaving dates.

Effect of Organic Amendments on Soil Carbon Stock, Yield and Quality of Sugarcane Ratoon

A field experiment was conducted during 2018-20 to evaluate the effect of different organic amendments on yield and quality of sugarcane ratoon in calcareous soil at Crop Research Centre, farm at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Bihar. The experiment was conducted in randomized block design with 8 treatments viz. control, FYM (farmyard manure) @ 20 t ha-1, biocompost (BC) @ 20 t ha-1, vermicompost (VC) @ 5.0 t ha-1, green manure with moong, sugarcane trash @ 10 t ha-1, FYM + BC+ VC (1: 1: 0.5) @ 20 t ha-1 and recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) as NPK (170: 50: 60 kg ha-1) and replicated thrice in sugarcane plant-ratoon system. The sugarcane plant crop was taken and after harvest of plant, the ratoon crop was initiated. Addition of organic amendments significantly increased the number of tillers, millable cane and ratoon cane yield which was at par with recommended dose of fertilizer. The cane juice quality was not affected due to different treatments. The mean cane yield (61.7 - 77.1 t ha-1) and sugar yield (4.06-10.56 t ha-1) varied significantly in organic added plots t ha-1 which was found at par with RDF. The sugar yield followed the similar trends of cane yield. The SMBC (soil microbial biomass carbon), CO2 evolution and carbon stocks were significantly higher in organic amendment added plots indicating improvement in soil carbon status. The highest value of CO2 evolution, SMBC and carbon stocks were observed in the treatment receiving FYM+BC+VC in combination (1: 1: 0.5). Organic amendments had beneficial impact on restoration of soil carbon status, cane and sugar yield of ratoon crop of sugarcane in calcareous soil.