SUMMARYThe use of sewage sludge in Brazilian agriculture was regulated by the resolution no. 375 Conama, in 2006. However, there is a lack of research to adequate the mineral N and P fertilizer doses to be applied in agricultural fields treated with this residue. In a field experiment, the effects of application rates of sewage sludge and mineral N and P fertilizers on the productivity and technical characteristics of the cane-plant and first ratoon (residual effect) crops were evaluated. Four doses of sewage sludge (0, 3.6, 7.2 and 10.8 t ha -1 , dry base), of N (0, 30, 60 and 90 kg ha -1 ) and of P 2 O 5 (0, 60, 120 and 180 kg ha -1 ) were combined in a factorial and laid out on randomized block design, a with two replications. To evaluate the residual effect of the sludge, 120 kg ha -1 N and 140 kg ha -1 of K 2 O were applied in all plots. Sludge application at cane planting, with or without N and/or P fertilizer increased the stalk yield from 84 up to 118 t ha -1 , with no alteration in the sugarcane quality, compared with the application of NPK fertilizer alone, resulting in a stalk yield of 91 t ha -1 . The study of the response surface for stalk yield on lowfertility soil was the basis for a recommendation of mineral N and P fertilizer doses for sugarcane implantation as related to sewage sludge application rates. It was also concluded that a sludge application of 10.8 t ha -1 , which is the sludge dose established based on the N criterion according to the resolution Conama n o 375, could a) reduce the use of mineral N by 100 % and of P 2 O 5 by 30 %, with increments of 22 % in stalk yield, as a direct effect of sludge application to cane plant crop, and b) increase the stalk yield in the second harvest (first ratoon) by up (1)