New device to push up cane cultivation

A new tractor-operated device to help in the cultivation of ratoon sugarcane crop has been developed by the Lucknow-based Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research (IISR).

The two-row mounted Ratoon Management Device (RMD) can be used for stubble shaving, deep tilling, off-barring, placing manure, spraying fertilisers/bio agents, chemicals in liquid form and earthing up operations in one or subsequent passes for the ratooning of sugarcane.

With the help of this equipment, the stubble is cut by a sharp edged, jagged and concave spinning disc. The soil underneath is dug by a pair of long and curved ripper. Manures, bio-fertilizers and chemicals are placed using spiral mechanism.

Chemicals or vegetative extracts in liquid form are applied deep in the soil through tubes and nozzles. It also has an earthing unit consisting of mould board to provide soil cover over the stubble in form of a ridge.

The effective field capacity of the equipment is 0.4 hectare per hour. At present, the operation is mostly done manually and takes about six hours.

"Apart from saving time and money, the RMD would also improve the yield by about 10 per cent", said the principal scientist at the IISR MP Sharma.The RMD is priced at about Rs 73,000. The commercial use of this device would start next year.

The institute has also applied for a patent for it. It is an important development considering the fact that ratooning is an integral component of commercial cultivation of sugarcane and it accounts for about 50 per cent of the total area under sugarcane in India.