Irrigation of sugarcane manual

Abstract

Sugarcane is a plant that originated in wet tropical regions such as Hawaii and Papua New Guinea. Therefore, to achieve maximum productivity, it requires an abundant supply of water from either rainfall or irrigation.

With suitable conditions of adequate temperature and sunlight, cane grows in direct proportion to the amount of water available. For each 100 mm of soil water used by the crop, approximately ten tonnes per hectare of cane is produced.

Irrigation reduces the dependency on rainfall for crop production and improves the reliability of cropping. Removing the dependency on rainfall also allows for better planning and increased flexibility of farming activities.