Effects of nitrogen applied through new carriers on yield and quality of sugarcane

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SUMMARY In a field experiment at Lucknow in 1985/87 and 1986/88, the ‘new’ N carriers urea super granules (USG), neem-cake-coated urea (NCU) and dicyandiamide-treated urea (DCD) and the traditional source of N, prilled urea (PU), were used to supply 150 kgN/ha to the plant crop (first crop after planting) of the cultivar Col 148. The ratoon crop was fertilized at 0 and 150 kgN/ha with PU over all the plant crop treatments. In both plant and ratoon crops, N application increased cane yields but decreased quality: differences in yield resulting from use of the new carriers were not significant, though the fertilizers tended to increase the final plant population density. Uptake and recovery of N were significantly greater using USG, NCU and DCD than using PU. The direct effect of N was 184 kg cane/kg of N applied to the ratoon crop but residual and cumulative effects of N applied to the plant crop on yield and quality of the ratoon crop were small. Adequate direct application of N is therefore suggested for increasing the yields of ratoon cane.