Sugarcane processing

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is the main sources of sugar in India and holds an important
position as a cash crop. India is the world’s largest consumer and the second largest producer of
sugar, next to Brazil. Nearly 2.8 lakh farmers have been cultivating sugarcane in the vast area of 4.4
lakh acres and over 11 crore people are dependent on the sugar industry in the country. Sugarcane
is one of the important commercial crops of India, with annual production of 170 M.T. Sugarcane
productivity in India is around 67 t/ha also, it is one of the most important food-cum-cash crops
grown in the country, providing employment to a larger number of people, in addition to earning
considerable foreign exchange.

The requirements for sugarcane production are as follows:

Climate

Sugarcane is able to grow over a prolonged season, under warm humid conditions, it can continue its
growth, unless terminated by flowering. Temperatures above 50 degree C arrest its growth; those
below 20 degree C slow it down markedly and severe frost proves fatal. The crop, however, does
best in the tropical regions receiving a rainfall of 750-1200mm. For ripening, it needs a cool, dry
season; but where rainfall is too heavy and prolonged, the quality of the juice tends to be low.

Soil

Sugarcane grows the best on medium heavy soils, but can also be raised on lighter soils and heavy
clays, given, there is adequate irrigation available in the former type of soils and drainage is good in
the latter type of soils.

Planting

Seed treatment

The availability of good quality cane seed materials(sett) from a nursery crop of 10-11 months are
essential for better germination and growth. Two budded setts are used for planting after treating
with, 0.05% Bavistin, 2.5% Urea, 2.5% KCI, 2.5% KCI+Urea, 1% Hadron, also hot water treatment is
given to prevent seed borne diseases.

Sowing

Planting of sugarcane is done in three seasons that is, January-February(suru), July-August(adsali)

and pre seasonal- October-November, for which generally ridges and furrows are prepared on 100-
120cm spacing.

Fertilizers

Adequate manuring is essential for sustaining high yields. In general, it is recommended, to apply
half to two-thirds of the nitrogen in the form of bulky organic manures, such as farmyard manure,
compost, green manure or tree leaves, and the remainder in the form of ammonium sulfate or oil-
cakes or a combination of the two. The fertilizer is recommended according to planting season and it
is varied from growing tract to tract. In general for January-February a proportion of 250:115:115
,for July-August 400:170:170 and for pre seasonal 340:170:170 kg nitrogen, phosphorus and potash
per hectare is recommended respectively. For ratooning 250:115:115kg nitrogen, phosphorus and
potash per hectare is usually used.

Irrigation

Water requirement of sugarcane varies from 2000 to 2500 mm depending upon a lot of factors like
its duration, soil type and climatological factors. For sugarcane germination, tillering, grand growth
and maturity are the most important stages for irrigation. There should be enough moisture in the
soil, during germination phase (1-35) days, for better germination but waterlogging is undesirable as
it might lead to rotting of setts. During this period irrigation can be scheduled at weekly intervals, but
irrigation at 10 days interval during tillering stage (36-100 days) is sufficient. For water demand, the
formative and grand growth stages (101-270 days) are the critical stages, and during this period
irrigation can be practised at weekly intervals. At the maturity phase (271 days to harvest)
fortnightly irrigation is sufficient. Irrigation needs to be stopped 15 days prior to harvest.

Mulching

In early days, application of paddy straw or spreading of sugarcane trash in the field decreases the
evaporation and thus decreases the water demand of the crop besides improving the yield.

Hoeing and earthing-up

The first hoeing and weeding is given to the crop three to four weeks after planting. After
germination, depending on the field conditions and the frequency of irrigation, two or three more
hoeing and weeding sessions may be required during the first three months after planting, with the
coming up of the crop. And finally, earthing-up is completed before the monsoon rains, and should
generally synchronize with the application of the final dose of fertilizer, which helps to keep down
the weeds.

Tying of cane

It is very important to tie up the canes so that they may not sway with the heavy winds, and lodge.
For tying, the stalks from adjacent rows are brought together and tied together with their own trash
and old leaves. At times, cane is tied at two or three levels with twists of cane trash, the twist-line
going from one end of the row to the other, also sometimes the stalks are further propped up with
bamboos.

Plant protection

The plant protection from pests, termites and diseases is very crucial and appropriate measures
should be taken to control.

Harvesting and yield

Assessing the maturity of the cane crop

In order to determine the maturity of sugarcane, we take a look at the lower leaves gradually
withering up and leaving progressively fewer green leaves at the top. A ripe cane, cut across with a
sharp knife, shows against sunlight a slight sparkling in its flesh unlike, the more watery cut surface
of an unripe cane. If the grower can keep and use a hand sugar refractometer, the testing of
maturity would be easier as, the hand refractometer reading is of 20, the cane crop may be
considered to have reached the stage of maturity. Small Mill Test (SMT) can be a real solution for
this perennial problem, for conducting SMT, few canes (say about 10 canes) have to be cut from the
field and the samples are analyzed after crushing the cane in a small mill and the maturity status of
the cane is determined.

Harvesting system and harvesting unit

The sugarcane harvest begins about the first of November and continues for an average of 150 days.
The sugarcane harvest is timed and coordinated in order to allow for maximum utilization of the
mill's grinding capacity. In India, at present the harvesting and supply of sugarcane is done by the
farmers after receiving the cutting orders from the factory authorities, and the cutting orders are
issued depending upon the date of planting as found in the records and agreement between the
farmers and factory. In a typical harvesting unit, three or four harvesters operate in tandem with six
to eight tractors and strings of wagons, and the huge machines contain rotating knives, which cut
the sugarcane at the base of the stalk. The cane tops are also cut off by rotating knives and the
excess foliage is removed by giant extraction fans and as the sugarcane passes through the
harvester, it is cut into 12-inch lengths called billets and then put into in-field wagons. The sugarcane
after all these processes is hauled to near-by transfer stations and loaded into semi-trailers for
delivery.

Yield

The average yield of a 11 to 12 month-old plant crop under commercial cultivation is 100 tonnes per
hectare in case of January-February, 170 tonnes per hectare for July-August, and 120 tonnes per
hectare in case of pre seasonal sugarcane.

Important regions/ zones for sugarcane cultivation in India

Broadly there are two distinct agro-climatic regions of sugarcane cultivation in India, viz., tropical
and subtropical, nevertheless, five agro-climatic zones have been identified mainly for the purpose
of varietal development. They are

(i)North Western Zone

(ii) North Central Zone

(iii) North Eastern Zone

(iv) Peninsular Zone

(v) Coastal Zone.

As per the 2011-12 data tropical region shared about 45% and 55% of the total sugarcane area and
production in the country, respectively along with the average productivity of 77 t/ha, while sub-
tropical region accounted for about 55% and 45% of total area and production of sugarcane with an
average productivity about 63 t/ha.
Tropical Sugarcane region

The tropical sugarcane region consists of the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Pondicherry and Kerala.

Sub-tropical sugarcane region: Around 55 per cent of total cane area in the country is in the sub-
tropics which includes the states of U.P, Bihar, Haryana and Punjab comes under this region.

Water Issues Associated with Sugarcane Production

•There is over exploitation of water resources like diversion from rivers, in extreme cases exposing
dry riverbeds, excessive use of groundwater, particularly where pumping is cheap, exceeds
groundwater recharge, cumulative impacts of water use with expanded production

•There is waterlogging of soils resulting from poor drainage or inefficient use of water

•Salinization of soils is common in sugarcane irrigated lands. The causes of salinisation are poor
irrigation and drainage management, as the water table rises, salts dissolved in the groundwater
reach the soil surface. If the area has high temperature the problem increases due to high
evaporation rates.

Water Issues Associated with Sugarcane Processing

• Cane can require from 3-10 m3 of washing water for every ton of cane but, we should not ignore
the fact that the more water used, the more energy is needed to refine sugar.

Agrochemical Use and Impacts

• Agrochemicals used—insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, nematocides, fertilizers, ripeners get

accumulated and change composition of soil (whether by pesticides or fertilizer) and chemical
composition (e.g. acidification). Also, non-target impacts on biodiversity like in the field and in
adjacent areas due to spray drift and runoff, and spillage of agrochemicals into the environment.

Effluents and Aquatic Ecosystems

• Contamination of surface and groundwater by nutrients and pesticides poses human health risks
as well as risks to biodiversity • Sedimentation affects hydrology, freshwater stream flow, light
penetration, and spawning grounds • In marine areas, silt can clog mangroves and suffocate coral
reefs and seagrass beds • Pesticide contamination of freshwater and marine ecosystems can result
in bioaccumulation in a wide range of trophic levels (e.g. Meso-American Reef) • Cumulative runoff
impacts from even small amounts of pesticides, nutrients and soil erosion are pronounced in
bottleneck freshwater and marine environments

Mill and Processing Implications

Up to 10 cubic meters of water is wasted just to wash 1 MT of cane. Water from the boiler house
used to concentrate the sugar, water from cleaning all the equipment also add to the • Emissions
like flue gases, soot, ash, and other solid substances like ammonia is released during the
concentration process, also solid waste plant matter and sludge are released into rivers and can
cause massive fish deaths.