Cane yield and soil nutrient balance in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) plant-ratoon system under integrated nutrient management in mollisols of Uttarakhand

A field trial was conducted during 2015–16 and 2016–17 at the NE Borlaug Crop Research Centre, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, to study suitable integrated nutrient management module for sustaining soil health and productivity in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.)-ratoon system. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with 10 treatments in 3 replications. The treatments comprised different combinations of organic sources and inorganic fertilizers along with inorganic fertilizers alone. The results revealed that application of FYM/compost @ 20 t/ha + soil test-based recommendation in both plant and ratoon crop significantly improved yield attributes and cane yield over rest of the treatments except FYM/compost @ 20 t/ha + recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) and RDF + S + Zn. It also recorded higher cane length (439.0 and 407.4 cm), cane girth (9.6 and 9.0 cm), individual cane weight (1, 268.7 and 1, 175.4 g), number of millable canes (NMC) (83.6 and 75.6 thousand/ha) and cane yield (76.5 and 74.5 t/ha) in plant and ratoon crops, respectively. The net N, P and K balance in soil was found to be positive in treatments receiving integrated nutrient supply, while it was negative under application of inorganic fertilizers alone in plant and ratoon crop.