Conserving the Organic Matter Content of the Soil to Sustain Sugarcane Yield

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Abstract
In two field experiments conducted over five successive sugarcane crops (including four ratoon crops), yield decline was associated with a decrease in the organic carbon content of the soil. Reduction in cane yield was minimized by the combined application of farmyard manure and urea, which resulted in an increase in soil organic carbon of 0.023% over the initial status within five years. Incorporation of farm waste materials such as cane trash, rice straw and legume husk into the soil before cane planting also increased the soil organic carbon content. Maximum benefits, however, were produced by the incorporation of legume husk with 150 kg N ha−1. A judicious mixture of chemical fertilizer and organic manures is therefore suggested as a means of sustaining the productivity of sugarcane.