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Scientists at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) joined hands to develop SSI, or Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative, that will take the sugarcane industry to drip method for cultivating the water-intensive crop, reducing input costs and also get higher yield.
According to a report, agricultural scientists have taken a cue from the SRI (System of Rice Intensification) cultivation, which caught the imagination of progressive farmers as it consumed less water and yielded more, and applied the vital principles to the sugar industry. The method is expected to increase yields by 20%, reduce water consumption by 30% and chemical inputs by 25%.
"We have just finished the first crop using the method in different climatic zones of the country. We tied up with farmers in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Orissa to test the method, said Dr Biksham Gujja, team leader for the ICRISAT-WWF project. Under the method, farmers can use a small portion of cane bud as seed, resulting in significant savings. Besides, the farmers could go for inter-cropping between the rows, generating additional income. Despite huge areas under sugarcane crop, the production levels hover around 40 tonnes a hectare, low when compared with other countries.
Dr Gujja was quite hopeful about the success of the method. "Keeping in mind the water crisis and growing demand for sugar, I expect that this method would replace the existing farming methods in the next five years," he said. The industry has already noticed the advantages. Triveni Industries in Uttar Pradesh has decided to take up SSI cultivation method in 1,000 hectares, according to Gujja.