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Mechanization of Sugarcane Cultivation

Research · October 2015

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4056.9049

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Mechanization of Sugarcane cultivation
Javed Ali

College of Technology, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar, Uttarkhand- 263145

Email id: [email protected]

ABSTRACT:

Sugarcane is an important cash crop and cultivated between 32 0N to 320S latitude covering more than 90
countries of the world. India contributing 19.98% of the total world production is the second largest producer of
sugarcane next to Brazil. In India sugarcane is cultivated in 4.86 million hectares with annual production of
324.91 million tonnes in the year 2010-11.The average yield of sugarcane is about 67 tonnes per ha, which is
lower than the average productivity of Australia, Indonesia, Colombia etc. In India, it is grown between 70 0N to
320N latitude covering large variation in climate, soil-crop spread and productivity. The major producing states
are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, and Gujarat. The energy consumption in production of
sugarcane is highest as compared to many other crops such as potato, maize ,wheat ,paddy, sorghum etc.
sugarcane is labour intensive requiring about 3300 man-hrs per hectare for different operations. Considering the
present trend of availability of labour for sugarcane production, it has been experienced that the use of modern
machinery is inevitable. Use of machinery helps in labour saving and timeliness of operations, reduces
drudgery, helps in improving quality of work, reduces cost of operation and ensures effective utilization of
resources. In India considerable R & D work for design and development of agricultural implements and
machinery for few operations have been developed .However the adoption of these implements and machinery
have not been up to the desired level. Thus there is a considerable mechanization gap, especially in the area of
sugarcane planting, interculture, plant protection, harvesting and ratoon management. Therefore it is necessary
that concentrated efforts be made for adoption, development and popularization of sugarcane machinery for
various operations. In this paper different operations of sugarcane cultivation along with their mechanization are
discussed.

INTRODUCTION:

Sugarcane is the most important agro industrial crop next to cotton which is being cultivated in around 4.86
million hectares area in India. The country produced about 324 million tonnes of cane at a national average of
about 67 tons /ha in the year 2010-11(Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department of Agriculture and
Cooperation). Sugarcane remains in the field for almost a year and right from land preparation to harvesting of
crop there is heavy demand of labour and machinery throughout its crop cycle. Sugarcane accounts for 60-70%
of the cost of sugarcane production and thus has a vital role to make sugar industry a commercially valuable
venture. (Singh et al.2011).Sugarcane is one crop in which there has been little mechanization in India, all farm
operations from planting to harvesting being labour dependent. In a true sense, if we look at the prevailing
degree of mechanisation, it is observed that so called mechanisation is confined to tractorisation, only in general
and use of land preparation equipment, mainly cultivator and harrow in particular.(Sharma et al. 2007). This is
one of the reasons for higher cost of cultivation of this crop and lower yield. Sugarcane production is labour
intensive requiring about 3300 man-hrs for different operations (Yadav et al.2000). In the present context of
globalisation, ways and means have to be further evolved to produce more sugar per unit area, time and input in
order to keep pace with the population growth while preserving the soil and water resources. For this purpose it
has been experienced that use of modern machinery is inevitable. Use of machinery helps in labour saving,
ensures timeliness of operation, reduces drudgery, helps in improving quality of work, reduces cost of operation
and ensures effective utilization of resources. In case of sugarcane crop although machinery has been developed,
however the adoption of these implements and machinery have not been up to the desired level. Thus there is a
considerable mechanization gap, especially in the area of sugarcane planting, interculture, harvesting and ratoon
management. Therefore it is necessary that concentrated efforts be made for adoption, development and
popularization of sugarcane machinery for various cultural operations. In this paper the mechanization of
different cultural operations for sugarcane cultivation is discussed.

1. LAND PREPARATION

Sugarcane crop requires well prepared seed bed. In sugarcane production tillage is done with the help of
mould board plough, disc plough, heavy disc harrow, duck foot tillers , rotavators, sub soiler ,cultipeckers/
clod crushers, blade tracers, land planer, bund former, trencher, ridger, furrower and other local tillage
tools . Introduction of tractor operated rotavators have been found quite effective in cane cultivation. Land
preparation and stool removal in sugarcane production can be a major contributor to overall production
costs. Conventional tillage system has been implicated in yield decline over the long term and therefore
yield benefits are envisaged together with cost savings. A study analysis showed that minimum tillage with
mechanical stool removal and machine planting gave the best economic returns, being 29.3% and 39.4%
more profitable than the conventional and no tillage treatments respectively (Grange et al.2004).

Fig 1: Effective field preparation with Rotavator

2. SUGARCANE PLANTING

After land preparation sugarcane planting is the major operation to be mechanised first. This is essential to
pave the way for mechanising subsequent cultural operations. Different methods of planting are followed
such as flat planting, trench planting, pit planting, staggered row planting, spaced transplanting and dual
row planting. Different row spacings are maintained ranging from 60-70 to 90-150 cm, while 75 cm being
the most common. Various types of animal drawn and tractor drawn sugarcane planters have been
developed and successfully tested and demonstrated at the farmer’s fields. These planters are drop type
planters where whole cane is cut separately into three bud sets either manually or by a power operated set
cutting machine. These sets are fed manually and the rest of the operations, such as opening of furrows,
application of fertilizer, insecticide and fungicide, giving a soil cover over the sets and compaction of the
soil cover, are carried out automatically with the help of the planter. Various types of set type planters, -
semiautomatic and automatic, have been developed. In case of automatic planters, dropping of the set is
also automatic besides other operations involved in cane planting. With the advent of sugarcane cutter
planters on the scene, where cutting of whole cane into sets is also done simultaneously, planting through
machine has become a viable proposition. Ridger type/Disc type sugarcane cutter planter have been
developed and successfully tested and demonstrated in the farmer’s fields. These planters have now become
popular among the cane growers and, as a result, a number of commercial manufacturers have come
forward and taken up the manufacturing of the IISR design sugarcane planters on a commercial scale.
Presently the latest model of sugarcane planter costs Rs.50,000.00. The cost of sugarcane planting with the
use of this machine may be reduced by about 60 % as compared to conventional system of cane planting(
Singh and Sharma 2008) Fig. 2 shows the IISR Sugarcane Cutter Planter in operation. Timeliness of
operation and efficient utilization of critical inputs, such as fertilizer, insecticide and fungicide, is also made
possible. Tractor mounted multi-purpose sugarcane planter has been developed at IISR Lucknow (Fig. 3).
This is an improved version of sugarcane cutter planter. The planter can be used for many other sugarcane
operations. Sugarcane planters seem to have a bright future and an important role in managing sustainable
sugarcane production.

Fig 2: IISR sugarcane cutter planter in Fig 3: IISR tractor mounted Sugarcane
operation multipurpose planter
3. WEEDING AND INTERCULTURE

Sugarcane requires number of intercultural operations for weed control, moisture conservation and creation of
better environment for overall growth of plant. About 4-5 interculture operations are quite common in
sugarcane. After emergence, weeding is done with the help of animal drawn or tractor operated cultivators.
Tractor operated cultivators can effectively be used by adjusting the spacing between the tines as per
conventional row spacing. use of self-propelled rotary weeder(Fig 5) and light weight power tiller ,tractor tiller
with ridges and discs are being followed for interculture and earthing of sugarcane .Tractor drawn earthing up
devices have also been developed and can be used effectively till the plant growth doesnot hamper with the
operation . A low hp tractor (Mitsubishi Shakti) drawn earthing up cum fertilizer applicator unit is multipurpose
equipment for performing mechanical weeding, earthing-up, and fertilizer application operation simultaneously
in wide row planted sugarcane. It covers 0.33 ha/h or 2.64 ha/day with weeding efficiency of 94% and field
efficiency of 82.70% developed by the Department of Farm Machinery and Power, Dr A.S. College of
Engineering MPKV, Rahuri (Navale et al. 2009).IISR Multipurpose planter is also used for interculture
operations.(Fig 4)

Fig 4: IISR Multipurpose Planter

in Interculture Mode Fig 5: Power weeder for weeding operatiom in
sugarcane

4. SUGARCANE HARVESTING
Manual harvesting of sugarcane is vogue in India. Different types of sugarcane harvesting knives of different
size, shape and weight are being used for sugarcane harvesting at different places. Sugarcane harvesting
manually by traditional tools is highly labour intensive and costly operation out of all sugarcane production
practices. About 850-1000 man-hour per ha is required for sugarcane harvesting with the traditional
tools.(Yadav et al.2002) Sugarcane harvesting involves base cutting of sugarcane ,stripping and retracing of
sugarcane, detopping, bundle making and finally transport of sugarcane to the sugar mills .Gradually, timely
harvesting of sugarcane at affordable cost is becoming a problem particularly in the tropical region. Managing a
big fleet of labourers to give timely supply of cane to the mill is not easy any more. Delayed harvesting affects
the quality of sugarcane ,yield, juice quality and sugar recovery. Under these circumstances, the sugar industry
is looking for alternate mechanical means for harvesting the sugarcane crop at a reasonable wage rate. In
subtropical India, normally, sugarcane harvesting is free of cost in exchange for green tops and, as such, in near
future the problem does not appear to be of a major concern. Efforts may be made to develop efficient hand
tools for harvesting sugarcane crop so as to improve the quality of cutting and output/man/day with reduced
energy input. Partial mechanisation seems to be a suitable answer for the time being particularly in the
subtropical belt (Singh et al. 2010). The available sugarcane harvesting systems can be grouped into:
1. Whole stalk linear windrowing
2. Whole stalk transverse windrowing
3. Whole stalk bundling machine
4. Hand controlled self propelled harvester
5. Chopper type cane harvesters.

WHOLE STALK HARVESTING

a. Manual Cutting
Proper manual cutting results in minimum loss of cane and the highest quality of the product. The productivity
of manual cutters can be improved by giving them proper training, the use of correct cane knife, balanced diet,
etc.
b. Mechanical Cutting
Cane cutting attachments for agricultural tractors have been developed. This harvesting system still requires an
appreciable amount of labour as cane stalks have to be detrashed, detopped and bundled and, subsequently,
loaded into the wagons. Heavy recumbent cane is difficult to handle with these aids and dry leaves are removed
only partially.
c. Whole Cane Harvester
More advanced machines are now available (CAMECO Harvester), which cut the cane stalk at the base and
detop. The cut canes are placed in a single windrow from 4-6 rows. Subsequently, depending upon the
availability of the labour, mechanical loaders/manual loaders can be employed for loading purposes. Eight to ten
percent of the trash remains in the harvested cane. At a later stage, use of separate detrashers can be explored for
minimizing the level of trash in the cane to be supplied to the mills. Fig. 6 shows the IISR model of sugarcane
windrower harvester in operation.

Fig 6: IISR sugarcane windrower Fig 7: Modern sugarcane chopper

harvester in operation harvester (Austoft 7000) during trials

d. Chopper Type Harvester

With the increasing labour problem, pace of mechanised harvesting may be accelerated and imported models of
chopper harvesters may be tried and introduced with the modifications suiting to local needs. Efforts have been
initiated in parts of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra where imported models of chopper harvesters have been tried
on a limited scale. There is no doubt that handling of even a heavy tonnage recumbent crop can easily be
handled and out put of 25-30 tonnes/field/hour can be achieved but trash percentage in the billets (7-8 %), small
size of the fields, high initial cost of the machine, wider row spacing required (1.5 m) and sophisticated systems
are the major constraints in successful adoption of these imported machines under Indian conditions (Singh et
al. 2011). Delays from harvest to crush further aggravate the problem. Efforts are being made to develop an
indigenous model of sugarcane harvester suited to Indian conditions. A modern combine sugarcane chopper
harvester ( Autoft 7000) was imported from Australia and field tested ( Singh and Singh 2006).Fig. 7 shows a
modern combine sugarcane Chopper harvester during trials in India.

5. TRASH MANAGEMENT
Handling of trash is another area requiring attention of the researchers in the present scenario where manual
harvesting is in vogue. At IISR, equipment for in-situ incorporation of sugarcane trash has been developed and
is under extensive field trials. The equipment is mounted with the tractor and is operated by PTO shaft. The
system picks up trash, passes it on to the chopping unit where trash is chopped into small bits which ultimately
gets mixed up and buried under the soil with the help of a pair of discs provided at the rear end.

Fig 9: Equipment for in-situ incorporation of

Fig 8: IISR trash handling sugarcane trash in operation
equipment

6. RATOON MANAGEMENT
Ratoons play an important role in improving overall economics of sugarcane production. A multipurpose
machine has been developed which takes care of the important cultural operations required to be performed for
raising a good ratoon crop.
The machine takes care of:
1. Stubble shaving
2. Off barring or dismantling of ridges
3. Interculture operation
4. Fertilizer application.
Proper use of this machine will lead to improved ratoon productivity.
Fig. 10 shows the equipment in operation. Fig 11 shows IISR multipurpose equipment for sugarcane ratoon
management

Fig 10: IISR ratoon management device Fig 11 : IISR multipurpose equipment for
sugarcane ratoon in operation
in field operation

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS:

Mechanization of sugarcane cultivation has yet to play its role in India. Traditional tools and equipments are still
common in use for Sugarcane cultivation. Size of holding is one of the reasons for low level of mechanization.
Sugarcane planting and harvesting are the important area, which require introduction of sugarcane machinery,
its refinement and adoption based on location specific requirements. Prototypes already developed need to be
tried at different locations and commercialized after carrying our necessary refinements. Introduction of costly
machinery through custom hire can help the sugarcane growers to get the benefits of mechanization.A number
of useful equipments for sugarcane culture have been developed and demonstrated on a limited scale at different
places. There is no doubt these pieces of equipments are labour and cost saving and will definitely make
sugarcane cultivation more profitable besides reducing human drudgery. There is a need for concerted efforts by
different organisations including sugar industry, State Agricultural Universities, Research Organisations, Cane
departments, etc., for popularising these equipments (Singh and Sharma 2010). All these useful time, labour and
cost saving devices can be taken to the farmer fields with the joint efforts of all those involved in the pursuit of
increasing sugarcane productivity. Suitable liaison with the implement manufacturing industries be developed
and prototypes be fabricated and demonstrated on a large scale in order to create awareness among the farmers.
Later on, private entrepreneurs could be encouraged to provide these useful equipments to the farmers on
custom hiring service basis. The next phase of revolution in Indian agriculture is bound to come through the use
of improved agricultural machinery suiting to local conditions. Concerted efforts are required to formulate a
strategy for mechanising sugarcane production in India with the sole aim of increasing production and
productivity per unit time, area and input at reduced cost of unit operation. This is must if we have to survive in
the highly competitive international sugar market.
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