Effect of Planting Geometry on Cane Productivity for Convenient use of Machinery in Sugarcane

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrid complex) is the most important cash and agro industrial crop which is being cultivated in around 5.09 million hectares area in India. The major producing states are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Gujarat in which leading state Uttar Pradesh having the average cane productivity 81.10 t/ha with sugar recovery 11.48 per cent. Sugarcane cultivation needs heavy demand of labour and machinery throughout the sugarcane crop cycle. The lack of mechanization in India is due to small land holdings, improper row spacing and less skill about mechanization. It is an alarming situation to go for mechanization in sugarcane. Small tractor (24-28HP) drawn multipurpose equipment are used for performing mechanical weeding, earthing up and fertilizer application operation in wide row planted sugarcane. Convenient use of machinery in appropriate sugarcane plant geometry helps in saving of labour, reducesdrudgery, timeliness of operations. Mechanization is useful in improving quality of work, effective utilization ofresources and reduces cost of operation. A Field experiment was conducted at research farm of gendasingh sugarcane breeding and research institute, Seorahi, Uttar Pradesh during 2016-18, 2017-19 and 2018-20. The experiment consisting of six plant geometry treatments i.e.T₁- Conventional planting at 90 cm row distance (Farmer practices), T₂-Trench Planting in single row at 135 cm (105:30) cm with shallow soil covering on setts, T₃- Trench Planting in double row at 180 cm (135:45) with shallow soil covering on setts, T₄- Trench Planting in paired row at 4 120 cm (90:30) with shallow soil covering on setts, T₅- Trench Planting in paired row at 165 cm (135:30) cm with shallow soil covering on setts and T₆ - Trench Planting in paired row at 180 cm (150:30) cm with shallow soil covering on setts was laid out in randomized block design with four replicationsto find out appropriate plant geometry for convenient use of machinery and boosting the cane productivity of sugarcane in autumn season. The soil of experimental plot was medium in organic carbon, low in available phosphorus and potash with pH 8.02. The improved crop management practices were followed during experimentations. Germination, shoot population, number of millable canes and cane yield were recorded from each net plot and data were statistically analyzed. The experimental findings on the basis of pooled data of three years showed that significantly higher germination per cent in trench planting in paired row than conventional planting at 90 cm row spacing. Trench planting in paired row at 120 (90:30) cm geometry treatment produced significantly higher shoot population (175.09 thousand/ha) and number of millable canes (122.00 thousand/ha) than that of other treatments. Planting at 90 cm geometry resulted 39.56 and 34.43 per cent lower cane yield as compared with trench planting in paired row at 120 (90:30) cm andtrench planting in paired row at 165 (135:30) cm, respectively. Maximum net return (Rs. 220205/ha) was also obtained with trench planting in paired row at 120 (90:30) cm plant geometry.