Wide row sugarcane has empty space in early months. Which intercrops are good in sugarcane without hurting cane yield?
Which intercrops can I grow in sugarcane to earn extra (ganna)?
RRamesh Verma8mo ago · 272 views
4 Answers
🌾Farmer.in Krishi TeamExpert ✓7mo ago
Sugarcane is slow in the first 3 to 4 months, so wide rows leave space for a short duration intercrop that gives extra income without hurting cane. Good intercrops include pulses like urad, moong, and lentil, vegetables like onion, garlic, potato, and french bean, and oilseeds, chosen to mature before the cane canopy closes. Legumes are especially good as they add nitrogen to the soil. Keep the intercrop in the inter row, do not crowd the cane line, and plan fertiliser and irrigation for both crops. Wider spacing such as trench or paired row planting makes intercropping easier. Avoid tall or long duration intercrops that compete with cane for light and water. Pick intercrops with local market demand. Confirm suitable combinations with your KVK.
SSuresh Pal7mo ago
In my autumn planted cane I take potato and then a moong in the gap. The intercrop income almost covers my cane growing cost, and cane yield does not suffer if I keep the rows wide.
OOmkar Dixit7mo ago
Match the intercrop to the planting season. Autumn cane in UP gives a long winter window for potato, mustard, or garlic, but spring planting leaves much less time before the canopy closes, so I stick to a quick moong then. Forcing a long crop into the short spring gap hurt my cane the year I tried it.
SShyam Lal Kashyap6mo ago
Plan the irrigation and fertiliser for both crops together or one starves the other. When I gave potato heavy water and nitrogen without adjusting, the cane in between grew lanky. Now I treat them as one system and keep the intercrop strictly in the middle of the wide row, away from the cane line.