The Lal Bahadur Shastri Sugarcane Farmers Institute, Lucknow, in collaboration with the Sugarcane Development Council, Haidergarh, organised a farmers’ seminar on autumn sugarcane sowing in the villages of Bahuta and Gangapur Sansara of Haidergarh.
Arun Kumar, who came from the Sugarcane Institute, urged farmers to have their soil tested and use balanced fertilisers. Generally, use 200 kilograms of nitrogen, 80 kilograms of phosphorus, and 60 kilograms of potash, along with 30 kilograms of sulfur per hectare. Apply two kilograms of Trichoderma per acre at the time of sowing. Autumn sugarcane yields 15 to 20 percent more.
Additionally, there is a bonus benefit from intercropping. Dr SK Pandey, a scientist at the Agricultural Science Centre, Haidergarh, explained that autumn sugarcane is not affected by the early shoot borer insect.
Explaining organic pest and disease control methods to farmers, he said that applying 20,000 Trichogramma eggs per acre five times at 15-day intervals controls all piercing insects. For underground pests, use two kilograms of Beauveria bassiana per acre.
District Sugarcane Officer Dr Dushyant Kumar urged the sugar mill to supply clean sugarcane, increase its basic quota by supplying sugarcane on slips, and increase the area under autumn sugarcane. He said farmers can double their income by sowing sugarcane using the trench method, intercropping, using drip irrigation, and maintaining proper stubble management.
Senior Sugarcane Development Inspector, Haidergarh, Dilip Singh, advised sowing sugarcane varieties Co. 0118, 15023, and Co. Lakh 14201, 16202. Jagdish Yadav, the sugarcane manager at the Haidergarh Sugar Mill, explained the mill’s plans to farmers, stating that new farmers are being offered 15 quintals of sugarcane seed at a 50 per cent discount; they should take advantage of this offer.
Haidergarh Sugar Mill pays farmers the sugarcane price on time. Former President Brijesh Kumar Tripathi, Badal Singh, and Shirish from the sugar mill, along with a large number of farmers, participated in the seminar.
