Agrica

The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of sugarcane trash mulch and weed management practices on yields and economics of sugarcane production. Field experiment was conducted in 2019 and 2020 at National Cereals Research Institute, Badeggi in the Southern Guinea Savanna ecology of Nigeria. The treatments consisted of factorial combination of two sugarcane genotypes (Bida local and NCS 001), four sugarcane trash mulching levels (0, 3, 6, 9 t/ha) and four weed management practices (weedy check, 5 monthly hoe weeding (5MHW), pre-emergence (PE) application of diuron at 2 kg a.i/ha + Post-Emergence (POE) of 3- Maize force at 179.2 g/ha + Two hoe weeding (2HW)] and PE Diuron + POE 3-Maize force arranged in a split plot design and replicated three times. The results showed that application of 9 t ha^-1 trash mulch and PE+POE+ 2 MHW produced higher sugarcane yield (101.5 t ha^-1). The cost of sugarcane per hectare which consist of total variable cost (TVC) and total fixed cost (TFC) were 41, 000 accounting for 91.46% and 8.54% of the total cost of production. The gross farm income for NCS 001 was 262, 630 while the NFI was 221, 630 ha^-1. Similarly, the return naira ^-1 invested in the production of sugarcane showed a positive return of 5.41 naira on every 1 invested, which was profitable. In conclusion, trash mulching at 9 t ha^-1 plus P.E+PO.E+ 2HW effectively enhanced yields and profitability of NCS 001 sugarcane in the study area and related ecologies.