Resource Use Efficiency and Yield Advantage of Sugarcane-Based Cropping System in Tropical India

Sugarcane offers a unique potential for intercropping. To ensure the optimum productivity in an intercropping system, one must ensure that the peak periods of growth of the two crops do not coincide, so that one quick-maturing crop completes its life cycle before the main period of growth of the other crop starts. Though economic efficiency of sugarcane ( Saccharumofficinarum ) intercropping system has attracted a lot of attention around the world, interspecific competition between sugarcane and intercrops has not been studied so far. Field experiments were conducted during 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 at ICAR—Sugarcane Breeding Institute in split plot design with three rates of Nitrogen (N) (100, 75 and 50% of recommended N) to sugarcane as main plot treatments and six intercrops (I), namely finger millet, black gram, soybean, sesame, amaranthus and sunn hemp along with sole crop of sugarcane as subplot treatments. The yield and nitrogen balance of sugarcane and intercrops, and quality of sugarcane juice were determined. Land equivalent ratio (LER), was used to evaluate the potential advantages of the intercrops, Area Time Equivalency Ratio (ATER), Aggressivity (AG), and competitive ratio (CR) which based on crop yield and nitrogen acquisition were used to evaluate interspecific competition between sugarcane and intercrops. The results indicated that sugarcane–intercropping system had intercropping advantages based on LER. Application of 100% N has recorded higher number of millable canes and cane yield compared to 75% and 50% N levels. However, the cane yield at 100% N was on par with 75% N during 2015–2016. Higher ATER and CR recorded in case of sugarcane + soybean. Aggressivity (AG) was higher at 100% N level indicates its optimal dosage of N for the sugarcane growth. AG is greater than zero, indicating the competitive ability of sugarcane exceeds that of other intercrops. Net loss of N was also found less under the 100% N as compare to the rest of N levels and under sugarcane-based cropping system, there is heavy decline in N balance at post-harvest available N in the Sugarcane + finger millet intercropping system. Nitrogen levels and the sugarcane-based cropping system has not influenced the juice quality. Economics envisages reducing the N level is not advantageous for profitable system productivity. The best combination in terms of B:C ratio is sugarcane + amaranthus as the cost of cultivation is lower and the net return was higher.