PP Shinde
Vasantdada Sugar Institute, Pune, India; pp.shinde@vsisugar.org.in; pps2007@yahoo.com
Water is the most crucial input in sugarcane cultivation. The availability of water in an appropriate quantity at the right time throughout crop growth has become a major constraint in achieving sustainable sugarcane production. This calls for the use of various techniques for increasing the water-use efficiency. In India, drip irrigation is a proven and widely accepted technique for efficient management of water and fertilizer in sugarcane crops and its use is increasing. Sugarcane trash is a valuable organic material that remains in the field after harvest of the crop and trash mulching is an option for farmers to improve water-use efficiency as well as improving nutrient availability and soil physical properties. The effect of mulching with shredded and without shredded trash on water-use efficiency of sugarcane under drip and surface irrigation was tested during 2019 to 2023 for three crop seasons. Trash mulching improved the water-use efficiency by 1.2 times that in drip irrigation and 1.5 times that in surface irrigation over treatments without trash mulching.