PP Shinde
Vasantdada Sugar Institute, Pune, India
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.