Trend of sugarcane and jaggery production in Assam and associated problems and prospects

Abstract

Sugarcane is one of the important cash crop of Assam occupying an area of about 29 thousand ha with an average productivity of 37 t/ha. Poor yield of the crop is mainly due to some abiotic and biotic stress conditions, social and technical constraints and poor mechanization. Major reasons for low yield are heavy monsoon rainfall, reduced sunshine hours, high incidence of insect pests, lack of irrigation and low input use. The crop is grown in almost all the districts of Assam under varied soil and climatic conditions. Major sugarcane growing districts are Karbi-Angolong, Nagaon, Dima Hasao, Sonitpur and Golaghat. Almost all the cane produced in the state is utilized for making of jaggery except in places near city areas where the cane is used for raw juice during summer season. However, cane growers earn less income due to lack of adequate market facility and absence of proper marketing channel. The state has tremendous scope of enhancing the cane productivity through development of high yielding and pest and disease resistant varieties, development of abiotic and biotic stress management modules, adopting integrated nutrient supply system and sustaining its productivity by following suitable cropping systems.

A Comparative Study on Soil Stabilization Relevant to Transport Infrastructure using Bagasse Ash and Stone Dust and Cost Effectiveness

“…It is acknowledged the field CBR values may differ if the field moisture content is different from the optimum moisture content. Both the bagasse ash and stone dust are largely available in bulk quantities around the entire study area in Assam, India at cheap rates because of the large number of sugar mills and rock quarries existing in the region [37,38]. Previous studies revealed that the optimization of compaction and penetration characteristics was achieved when their quantities vary between 4-12% of the dry soil's weight [10,21,29].…”