There are many varieties of sugarcane. Select a variety that can give better productivity during the crop season. It is also important that the variety you choose is a drought-resistant variety.
Have a good planting materials. Carefully select only those with good quality cane points. It should be a fresh cut. Do not use planting materials that you found to be diseased, very thin, over-aged and some sign of damaged to the cane.
All cuttings of cane points should be treated with fungicides 2 days after to control the disease that will emerge during the growing period. A ratoon cane is more tolerant to dry season because it uses the root system of the preceding cropping to have the necessary moisture for the soil in the first few months of its growth.
If you select a deep-rooting planting. Plow the field deep up to 45 centimeters to break or loosen the soil. Plant the cane points immediately after plowing to minimize the loss of moisture in the soil. Harrow the field, make furrows and start planting. Don’t allow the plowed field to be exposed to the sun while waiting for the schedule planting. It should be done immediately and promptly.
Any leaf-over grass and other trash materials in the field from previous cropping should not be burn. This will form part as organic materials when decayed. This is to improve fertility of the soil and its soil composition.
While preparing the land, mix cane trash with the soil during the plowing. Incorporate all other waste cane materials like bagasse that started to decompose and organic manure (animal) to improve soil’s ability to hold enough moisture in the soil.
Mulch ratoon with cane trash materials. It helps to reduce loss of moisture through evaporation. In order to have an immediate germination of cane points, plant if there’s enough moisture in the soil especially during occasional raining. It is good to prepare the land and planting activities during the period of wet condition so that enough water can be absorb by the field. If irrigation is needed, do as necessary.
Limit your plant density according to the allowed space distance. Increasing density of the plants will only lead to competition in getting moisture in the soil. Plat the cane points deeply. Place the canes horizontally in deep furrows 30 centimeters from the top of the ridge to the bottom of the furrow. Cover it with fine soil 15 centimeters deep and compact the soil.
Apply basal fertilizer by broadcasting at the bottom of the furrows based on schedule. Don’t apply 100% of fertilizer requirements during planting. Share only part of such requirement. Follow the schedule of basal application.
For ratoon cane basal fertilizer application, it should be done along the cane row to cover the fertilizer with soil application can be done even if the soil is dry. Top dress the plant only if soil moisture is enough for cane growth.
Minimize tillage of the soil to avoid moisture loss but frequent inter-row cultivation may help to improve moisture of the soil. Proper weed control minimize moisture loose in the soil. Use chemical herbicides in addition to manual weeding to assure that the plants will grow solely without any competition.
Hill up the soil along the cane row. This is to cover the applied fertilizer with soil. During drought period, you should have enough irrigation equipment to do the flooding and sprinkling. You can use drip irrigation to restore rapid water loss due to drought.