Sugarcane Farming in India: Varieties, Planting, Diseases, Pests and Step-by-Step Management

Sugarcane is a 10 to 12 month crop that is planted from two-budded setts in spring (Feb to Mar) or autumn (Sep to Oct) in north India, and in the main season (Dec to May) in Tamil Nadu. Treat the setts, plant 12 buds per metre of furrow, apply nitrogen and potash in splits, irrigate by growth stage, keep the field weed-free for the first 3 to 4 months and use disease-free seed. Red rot, smut, wilt and grassy shoot spread through seed cane, so clean seed is the cheapest protection. Borers, termites and aphids are best handled by scouting, trash management and natural enemies first.

How is sugarcane farming done step by step? (Ganne ki kheti kaise karein)

Sugarcane is grown from stem cuttings called setts, not from seed. The crop stays in the field for 10 to 12 months and, if managed well, gives one or more ratoon crops from the same stubble. The steps below follow the order of work on the farm.

1. Choose a variety that suits your zone and has resistance to red rot.
2. Prepare the field. Deep ploughing, then ridges and furrows. TNAU describes wetland furrows with channels every 6 m and ridges 80 cm apart.
3. Pick clean seed cane from a young, disease-free nursery crop.
4. Treat the setts against fungus and, where needed, with biofertilisers.
5. Plant at the right time and depth, with enough buds per metre.
6. Give basal nutrients, then top-dress nitrogen and potash in splits.
7. Irrigate by stage and keep the first 100 days weed-free.
8. Earth up, detrash and scout every week for disease and pests.
9. Harvest at maturity and manage the ratoon.

The sections below take each step in turn. If you came here for a disease or pest, jump to the tables further down. Soil acidity and nutrient lock-up often look like disease in the field, so check how to read your soil health card before you spend on sprays.

Which sugarcane variety should you grow?

There is no single best variety for the whole country. Zone, soil, planting season and disease pressure decide the choice. TNAU gives plant-crop yield figures for some varieties it recommends in Tamil Nadu. The TNAU sugarcane page lists these:

For red rot prone areas, the TNAU organic page names Co 8021, Co 85019, Co 86010, Co 86032, Co 86249, Co 93009 and Co 94008 as resistant. In Punjab, PAU suggests fairly resistant early maturing varieties such as CoPb 92, Co 118 and CoJ 85. Always ask your sugar mill or the state cane department which varieties are approved for your area, because the list changes as old varieties lose resistance.

What is the best time to plant sugarcane?

Germination is best at 32 to 38 degrees C, according to the TNAU FAQ. Planting in December to January also helps the crop escape early shoot borer, as the TNAU organic page notes. PAU says autumn-planted cane needs more nitrogen than spring-planted cane (see the nutrient section).

How do you prepare setts and plant sugarcane?

How much seed cane is needed per acre or hectare?

TNAU gives 75,000 two-budded setts per hectare, or 40,000 three-budded setts, or 50,000 three-budded setts in another section. The pages differ, so use the figure your cane department gives. All the pages agree on the practical rule: about 12 buds per metre of furrow. Set the seed crop at around 6 to 8 months old, as TNAU says an 8 month old seed crop is ideal.

How should you treat sugarcane setts?

Sett treatment is the cheapest disease control you will do all season. These are the options in the TNAU crop page:

Heat treatment needs a proper unit. Do not try it with a drum and a thermometer unless the cane department has shown you how, because a few degrees too high kills the buds. The PAU article also stresses that red rot and wilt enter the field through infected setts. For sett rot specifically, TNAU adds a shallow planting depth of 1 to 2 cm of cover. Browse the sugarcane sett rot fungicide collection when you are choosing a fungicide for the dip, and read the label for crop, dose and safety. Our guide to fungicide application methods explains dip, drench and spray methods in plain terms.

What depth and spacing work for planting?

• Flat planting: furrows 8 to 10 cm deep, 75 to 90 cm apart, setts covered with 5 to 7 cm of soil.
• Furrow planting: 10 to 15 cm deep in north India and about 20 cm in south India.
• Trench planting: trenches 75 to 90 cm apart and 20 to 25 cm deep.
• Pit planting: 1.5 m by 1.5 m, about 4,444 pits per hectare. TNAU reports this gave higher net returns than usual planting in its trial.
• Gap filling: within 30 days of planting, using sprouted setts.

What is the fertiliser schedule for sugarcane?

Nutrient doses depend on state, soil test, variety and whether the crop is for the mill or for jaggery. The two universities fetched give quite different numbers, which is normal. Use the table as a guide to the logic, then match it to your soil test and the local recommendation.

• Timing (TNAU): nitrogen and potash in three equal splits at 30, 60 and 90 days after planting. Basal phosphorus goes in the furrow.
• Timing (PAU): autumn crop nitrogen one third at planting, one third at the end of March and one third at the end of May. Drilling nitrogen gives more cane than broadcasting.
• Organic manure: TNAU suggests farmyard manure at 12.5 t per ha, or compost at 25 t per ha, or filter press mud at 37.5 t per ha. PAU suggests farmyard manure or press mud at 20 t per ha.
• Micronutrients: TNAU lists zinc sulphate at 37.5 kg per ha and ferrous sulphate at 100 kg per ha as basal doses on deficient soils, and foliar zinc sulphate at 0.5 percent with urea for yellowing.
• Biofertiliser: TNAU says biofertilisers can allow about 25 percent less nitrogen. PAU suggests Azotobacter or a consortium at 10 kg per ha in the furrow at planting.

Yellow leaves in sugarcane are not always a disease. Low nitrogen, iron or zinc, waterlogging, termites and wilt can all give yellowing. Check the pattern first (old leaves or young leaves, patches or whole field) and see our note on nutrient lock in alkaline soils. For zinc, Katyayani sells zinc sulphate; for the full range see the sugarcane yellowing leaves collection and the sugarcane tillering fertiliser collection. Check label dose and crop stage before any foliar application.

How much water does sugarcane need and when should you irrigate?

Sugarcane needs 3 to 5 irrigations in the TNAU FAQ for the situation it describes, but intervals depend on soil. TNAU gives this stage-wise schedule:

On drip, TNAU describes irrigation every 3 days, with fertigation in equal splits from 15 days after planting. Red rot also links to water: TNAU advises not letting the field stay wet for long, and PAU says to stop irrigation or rain water running from an affected field into a healthy one. Mulching helps too. Read benefits of mulching and how deep to mulch for general rules. In sugarcane, TNAU suggests 10 cm of trash mulch within a week of planting, and says trash mulch saves 30 to 40 percent of irrigation water in ratoon.

How do you control weeds in sugarcane?

The first 3 to 4 months decide the crop, because slow early growth lets weeds take over. The TNAU FAQ gives a weed-free period of 120 to 135 days. Non-chemical options come first:

• Hoeing: TNAU describes a junior hoe along ridges at 25, 55 and 85 days.
• Earthing up: two to three times, with full earthing up at 90 to 120 days.
• Trash mulch: 10 cm thick, within a week of planting.
• Intercrops: TNAU reports soybean as an intercrop gave about 800 kg per ha without hurting cane yield.

If you use a herbicide, choose one registered for sugarcane and follow the label for dose, timing and water volume. TNAU lists pre-emergence products to be sprayed within 3 days of planting, but doses are different across its own pages, so they are not repeated here. Browse the sugarcane herbicide collection for narrow and broad leaf weeds, and read the label before use. Do not spray a herbicide if the neighbouring field has cotton or bhendi, because TNAU warns against 2,4-D drift in that case.

What are the major diseases of sugarcane?

Most serious sugarcane diseases move with seed cane. That is why one infected seed lot can ruin several fields. The table below lists the diseases growers ask about most, with cause, what you see and what the universities recommend first.

Red rot of sugarcane: causes, symptoms and management

The PAU article in Indian Farming says red rot is carried in infected setts and shows from July until harvest. Look at the midrib of the third or fourth leaf. Split a suspect cane lengthwise: red tissue broken by white spots, and a smell like alcohol, point to red rot. The TNAU organic disease page advises irrigating every 15 days during tillering and growth and every 25 days at maturity in affected fields, drenching the soil of uprooted clumps, and rotating with rice for one season and other crops for two seasons. See our post on crop rotation plans for options. Katyayani has a red rot management collection; use it only as part of the cultural plan above, never as the only step.

Smut and sugarcane wilt

Smut is easy to spot because of the black whip. PAU says it is severe from May to July and again in October to November, and is worse in ratoon. Wilt shows from July onwards and, like red rot, comes in on seed cane. Choose from the collections for sugarcane smut fungicides and sugarcane wilt fungicides after you confirm the disease with your cane department or KVK, because wilt, red rot and root problems can look alike. For soil-borne trouble, a bio product such as Trichoderma viride is a common choice; check the page for crop and method before use. For a plain explanation of bio agents see biopesticides: types, examples and limits.

Rust, pokkah boeng, grassy shoot and red stripe

Rust is a leaf disease; see the sugarcane rust fungicide collection when leaf spots are heavy. Pokkah boeng comes in the rainy season (July to September, PAU). Grassy shoot spreads through seed and, according to one source, through aphids, so heat-treated seed and rogueing matter most. Red stripe is a bacterial disease with no easy cure, so removal of affected canes is the main step.

Field Rule: Never raise a ratoon from a crop that had red rot, or smut above 10 percent, or grassy shoot above 15 percent. Ratooning carries the disease straight into the next crop (TNAU, PAU).

What are the major pests of sugarcane and how do you manage them?

The TNAU organic pest page describes each pest and its non-chemical control. Use it with weekly scouting. The table covers the pests growers ask about most.

Browse the matching collections when you have confirmed the pest: top borer, internode borer, termite, white grub, woolly aphid and leaf hopper. Do not copy doses from old websites. TNAU pages still list some insecticides that are restricted or banned in India, so always follow the current label and your state advisory.

Which bio products fit sugarcane pests?

TNAU names Metarhizium, Verticillium lecanii and Beauveria bassiana for woolly aphid. For soil insects, Metarhizium anisopliae is listed for white grubs and termites on its product page, and Beauveria bassiana is another common bio insecticide. For beetle monitoring there is a white grub lure. Bio agents work slowly and best before pest numbers explode, so start early and expect no knockdown.

Warning: Combos that mix an insecticide and a fungicide in one drench should be used only if the pest and disease are both present. Spraying without a diagnosis wastes money and harms natural enemies.

Which Katyayani combos are made for sugarcane?

Katyayani lists three sugarcane combos. The soil drenching combo page shows humic and fulvic acid, a chlorpyriphos plus cypermethrin insecticide and thiophanate methyl, meant for early growth. The growth combo page shows gibberellic acid with a micronutrient mix. Read each page for contents, dose and crop stage before you buy: sugarcane soil drenching combo, sugarcane growth combo and sugarcane advance growth combo. A combo does not replace clean seed, sett treatment and drainage. For the thiophanate methyl fungicide, see thiophanate methyl 70 WP uses and dosage.

How do you manage a sugarcane ratoon crop?

A ratoon is the crop that grows from the stubble after harvest. India has 30 to 40 percent of its cane area under ratoon, as per the TNAU crop page. The TNAU schedule is:

• Within 10 days of harvest: finish stubble shaving (4 to 6 cm), trash handling and gap filling.
• Gap filling: fill gaps longer than 60 cm within 30 days, using 30 to 35 day old seedlings.
• Extra nitrogen: 25 percent more nitrogen than the plant crop, applied 5 to 7 days after ratooning.
• Hoeing: around days 20 and 40 to 50.
• Earthing up: partial at day 50, final at day 90.
• Detrashing: days 120 and 180.
• Harvest: after about 11 months.

TNAU also notes trash mulching in ratoon, and a Trichoderma culture with press mud for the ratoon field. PAU notes that smut and grassy shoot build up in successive ratoons. So ratoon only healthy, vigorous fields, and keep to one or two ratoons.

When and how do you harvest sugarcane, and what yield can you expect?

• Age: early varieties at 10 to 11 months, mid-season at 11 to 12 months (TNAU).
• Maturity check: juice sucrose above 16 percent and purity above 85 percent. A hand refractometer reading of 18 to 20 percent Brix is used in the field (TNAU, which also gives 18 to 25 percent in another section).
• Cut close to the ground, strip the trash and send to the mill within 24 hours. TNAU says crushing within 24 hours matters because sugar falls fast after cutting.
• Yield: TNAU trials in the variety table gave 110 to 204.6 t per ha for the plant crop. These are research-station figures, so farm yields will be lower. India-wide averages could not be fetched from an official page and are not quoted.

Costs and returns depend heavily on local mill rates. For credit to cover the long crop cycle, read about the Kisan Credit Card scheme, and for support on equipment see agriculture subsidy schemes in India.

Conclusion

Good sugarcane farming is mostly decided before the crop is a month old: clean seed, treated setts, the right planting window and weed control in the first 100 days. After that, scouting every week beats spraying on a calendar. Remove diseased clumps early, never ratoon a diseased field, and use bio agents and natural enemies first for pests. When you do need a product, confirm the problem, then choose from the matching collection and follow the label.