Effect of Sett Soaking and Integrated Nutrient Management on Yield and Economic Analysis of Single-node Materials of Planting Sugarcane
Voggu Spandana *
Division of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India.
Anil Kumar Singh
Department of Agronomy, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar, India.
Navnit Kumar
Department of Agronomy, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar, India.
R S Bana
Division of Agronomy, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India.
Mayank Srivastava
Department of Agriculture and Food Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, West Bengal, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aims: To evaluate the effects of sett soaking treatments and integrated nutrient management (INM) on germination, growth, yield, quality, and economic returns of single-node planted sugarcane.
Study Design: Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with three replications.
Place and Duration of Study: Crop Research Farm, Sugarcane Research Institute, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa (Samastipur), during the spring season of 2021–22.
Methodology: The experiment comprised four sett soaking treatments: no soaking (S1), overnight soaking in water (S2), overnight soaking in 50 ppm ethrel solution (S3), and overnight soaking in 100 ppm ethrel solution (S4). Five nutrient management treatments were evaluated: RDF alone (N1), RDF + vermicompost (VC) at 5 t/ha (N2), RDF + VC at 10 t/ha (N3), RDF + VC at 5 t/ha + PSB + Azotobacter (N4), and RDF + VC at 10 t/ha + PSB + Azotobacter (N5). Soil characteristics were loamy with sandy texture, calcareous, pH 8.2, and 0.43% organic carbon. Data on germination, tillering, millable cane count, dry matter accumulation, cane yield, sugar yield, and economics were recorded and analyzed.
Results: Overnight sett soaking in 50 ppm ethrel (S3) significantly improved germination (79.1%), tiller count (85.4×10³/ha), millable canes (63.9×10³/ha), dry matter accumulation (293.2 q/ha), cane yield (78.0 t/ha), and sugar yield (10.23 t/ha). S3 also registered the highest gross returns (₹261,233/ha), net returns (₹133,978/ha), and a B:C ratio of 1.12. Among nutrient treatments, RDF + VC at 10 t/ha + PSB + Azotobacter (N5) recorded the highest shoot population and yield attributes, whereas RDF alone (N1) produced the highest B:C ratio (1.5) due to lower input costs. RDF + VC at 5 t/ha + PSB + Azotobacter (N4) may become more profitable if vermicompost is produced on-farm, reducing expenditure.
Conclusion: Sett soaking in 50 ppm ethrel and integrated nutrient management significantly enhance yield and quality of single-node planted sugarcane. While ethrel soaking and enriched INM improve productivity, the economic viability depends on input costs, with N1 and N4 being more favorable under resource-efficient conditions.
Keywords: Sugarcane, sett soaking, ethrel, integrated nutrient management, yield and economics