New technology to promote sugarcane cultivation in UP

The exercise is to be practiced from the forthcoming autumn sowing season.

Principal Secretary, sugarcane and sugar industry, Sanjay R. Bhoosreddy, has directed the district cane officers across the state in this regard.

Cash subsidy will be given to those farmers who want to embark upon this venture, to encourage them to grow demonstration nurseries of sugarcane using this technology.

The state government will provide financial assistance of Rs 9,000 per hectare to farmers for developing demonstration nurseries of the new sugarcane technology.

Bhoosreddy said the government of India had issued an advisory on this plan, which has been made an integral part of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) for the year 2020-21.

The plan was aimed at addressing issues of farmers closely concerned with the use of advanced scientific sowing methods to enhance productivity and make best possible use of land resources, he said.

He said, "In order to achieve the target, the sixfold technology is being given prime importance on the ground. These include the adoption of the trench and ring-pit methods of sowing sugarcane that have produced ''outstanding'' results, the integrated pest control management, integrated nutrient management to apply a balanced quantity of inputs that ensure healthy crop, inter-cropping of pulses with sugarcane to improve fertility of land and ration management that assists in getting a good yield in the second year."

He further said instructions had also been issued to set up more and more single bud chip sugarcane nurseries as one of the crucial measures to enhance productivity under the ''high quality sugarcane foundation seed and primary seed production and distribution programme''.

As per official records of the state sugarcane department, sugarcane cultivation was spread over 27.94 lakh hectares in Uttar Pradesh in the 2019-20 season.

The statewide average yield was 805 quintals per hectare. The new technology is expected to raise the yield considerably.

To bridge the gap of advanced machinery for sowing, the cane department will provide farmers with new agricultural equipment such as sugarcane cutter and planter, power tiller, weeder, mulcher and sugarcane trash cutter.