Abstract
In India's Maharastra State, roughly 0.45 million hectares of land are devoted to sugarcane production. Over the course of the last decade, sugarcane productivity rose to approximately 80-83 t/ha, with sugar recovery at 10.5%. Low productivity in the region was linked to the need for optimization of soil moisture regimes under surface irrigation and seasonal fluctuations in irrigation availability. Growers in the region were advised to adopt trickle irrigation in sugarcane. The planting techniques and configurations necessary for drip lines used to maximize sugarcane production are detailed. The most popular systems are surface trickle irrigation systems having pressure compensating drippers and sand filters. The gains achieved via these drip irrigation systems are detailed.