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This Farmer Grew 100 Tonnes of 20-Foot Tall Sugarcane in One Acre! Here’s How!
by Manabi Katoch December 13, 2017, 5:37 pm
https://www.thebetterindia.com/124175/suresh-kabade-100-tonnes-sugarcane-in-one-acre/
Appaso Kabade, a farmer from Karandwadi village in the Sangli district of Maharashtra, owned 30 acres
of ancestral land. As a local sugar mill was giving a reasonable price for sugarcane, he started growing
the crop. He was able to grow about 25 to 30 tonnes of sugarcane per acre, but his dream was to reach
up to 100 tonnes from the land, but it remained unfulfilled.
Years later his son, Suresh Kabade has fulfilled his dream by growing 100 tonnes of sugarcane
in just one acre. Each of these sugarcanes is more than 20 ft. long and weighs almost 4 Kg
each.
Suresh Kabade (centre) with 20 ft. long sugarcane
Suresh started experimenting with various techniques of planting sugarcane on his farm. As luck would
have it, the local Rajaram Bapu Sugar Factory invited Prof. Aabasaheb Salunkhe from Vasant Dada
Sugar Institute, Pune to train the farmers for free.
from his first crop and 120 tonnes from the second crop. The size of each sugarcane this year exceeded
20 feet. Each one weighed more than 4 kg.
Here are the changes that Suresh made in his farming method —
1) Preparing the land
The first thing that matters most is the soil where the crop will be grown. Suresh’s journey to achieve the
best quality sugarcane begins in March when he plants a green manure called Sesbania, which is also
known as also known as Dhaincha. Once the plants are almost ready to start flowering, they are crushed
with the help of a power tiller or a tractor and mixed within the soil. A layer of mud is put upon this, and
a bed to plant sugarcane is prepared.
According to Suresh, Dhaincha is a rich source of carbon, and its roots contain essential nitrogen which
provides the required nutrition to the soil.
Once the land is ready, deep drains that are about 10 inches to 1 feet, are dug at a distance of almost 5 to
6 feet from each other. It is essential to put the fertilisers on the side of the drain where sunrays fall
directly.
“In the traditional method of planting sugarcane, we would keep the distance between two drains up to 2
.5 feet, but I realised that keeping a gap of 5 to 6 feet gives them required space to grow,” says Suresh.
3/5
For a good crop it is very important to select the right seeds. Suresh suggests that farmers take up one
eye seeds of sugarcane of best quality. He then recommends that they wash the seeds with a mixture of
20% chloro in one litre of water, then two gm of bavistin in one-litre of water and finally 5-10 millilitre
of germinator in one-litre water. These seeds are then planted in the drains by making a quench in the
drains of about 3 inch deep at a distance of 2.5 feet each.
Suresh informed us that plants need fertilisers, but one has to take care of the quality and the right way
of using them. He digs a small quench near the space where the seed has to be planted and puts the
essential fertilisers right at the roots of the plant and covers it carefully with the soil. This technique
ensures the plant gets all the nutrients from its roots. “It takes at least five farm labourers to do this job,
but one can see the positive results,” he explains.
Suresh also makes organic manure at his own farm and says that he strains the cow dung first before
using it in the manure.
4/5
Suresh who has won many awards including the best sugarcane farmer award at the recent Krishithon at
Nasik, says that this was not possible without the support of the farm labourers who work at his farm
and the constant support of his wife, Padmaja.
Appasso is a proud father today when he sees farmers coming from all across the country to
get trained from Suresh.