Soil test crop response based integrated nutrient management for enhancing agronomic performance of sugarcane with different planting materials

The decline in performance of sugarcane either due to non-availability of suitable planting material or negligence in nutrient management is increasing at an alarming rate. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted for two consecutive years in Bihar, India to study the effect of different planting material and integrated nutrient management strategies on performance and yield of sugarcane. The experiment was conducted in a factorial randomized block design replicated thrice with four planting materials (single budded sett, double budded sett, three budded sett and tissue culture plantlets) and seven integrated nutrient management strategies [control, recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), soil test-based RDF, RDF + 25% N through pressmud + ZnSO4, soil test-based RDF+ 25% N through pressmud + ZnSO4, RDF + 25% N through FYM + ZnSO4 and soil test-based RDF+ 25% N through FYM + ZnSO4]. Crop growth attributes viz. leaf area index, plant height, tillers, total chlorophyll content was found maximum with tissue culture plantlets followed by three budded setts while the minimum in single budded sett. During both the years of the study, three budded setts increased the cane yield by 33.9 and 34.5% over single budded sett respectively. Application of soil test-based RDF + 25% N through pressmud + ZnSO4 significantly enhanced physio-agronomic performance and further, the sugar yield by 39.1, 13.3 and 38.7, 11.6 % as compared to RDF and soil test-based RDF in first and second year of the study respectively. Hence, it was concluded that three budded sett along with soil test-based RDF + 25% N through pressmud + ZnSO4 of 25 kg/ha can increase overall growth and productivity of sugarcane.