The Hindu Business Line : New method to grow sugarcane with less water

Hyderabad, May 6 Now, the sugarcane industry can take to drip method for cultivating the water-intensive crop, reducing input costs and also get higher yields.

Agricultural scientists have taken a cue from the SRI (System of Rice Intensification) cultivation, which caught the imagination of progressive farmers as it consumed less water and yielded more, and applied the vital principles to the sugarcane industry.

Sustainableinitiative

The method is expected to increase yields by at least 20 per cent and reduce water consumption by 30 per cent and chemical inputs by 25 per cent.

Scientists at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) joined hands to develop SSI, or Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative.

“We have just finished the first crop using the method in different climatic zones of the country. We tied up with farmers in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Orissa to test the method,” Dr Biksham Gujja, Team Leader for the Icrisat-WWF project, told Business Line.

Using the method, farmers can use a small portion of cane (bud) as seed, resulting in significant savings.

Besides, the farmers could go for intercropping between the rows, generating additional income.

Hopeful of success

Despite huge extent under sugarcane crop, the productivity levels hover around 40 tonnes a hectare, low when compared with some other countries.

Dr Gujja was quite hopeful about the success of the method. “Keeping in mind the water crisis and growing demand for sugar, I expect that this method would replace the existing farming methods in the next five years,” he said.

“The industry has already noticed the advantages. Triveni Industries in Uttar Pradesh has decided to take up SSI cultivation method in 1,000 hectares,” he said.

If not in a standardised way, the SRI cultivation has already been in use in some pockets. The Icrisat-WWF initiative aims at developing standardised practices to make it a sustainable method.

“We have prepared a training manual for those who want to take to the SSI method in sugarcane cultivation. We provided a step-wise manual. We are in the process of translating this work in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi and Oriya,” he said.

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