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Effect of Clod Size in the Seedbed on Development and Yield of Sugarcane
Author(s) -
Jain N. K.,
Agrawal J. P.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1970.03615995003400050034x
Subject(s) - seedbed , topsoil , bulk density , germination , yield (engineering) , crop , agronomy , sowing , mathematics , cane , environmental science , sugar , soil science , soil water , biology , materials science , biochemistry , metallurgy
Topsoil was replaced to a depth of 22.8 cm with clod separates, to correspond to Yoder's pulverization moduli, in an experiment conducted with sugarcane ( Saccharum officinarum L.) during 1965–1966 and 1966–1967 at the Government Agricultural College, Kanpur, India. Soil bulk density, used as a measure of soil pore space, was lowest at pulverization modulus 2 which represented a clod size of 3.2 to 6.4 mm. Increased pore space at this pulverization modulus resulted in a higher germination percentage, increased the number of shoot roots, enhanced the uptake of nitrogen and, consequently, benefited all measured indices of sugarcane crop response. These included plant height, number of tillers, number of millable canes, and cane yield. To some extent, juice quality of sugarcane was also improved by optimum soil preparation. Deviation from an optimum to a coarser seedbed was less harmful than deviation to a finer seedbed.