Sugarcane farming — season guide: stages, tasks & pest watch

A stage-by-stage guide for growing sugarcane in India (~360 days) — what to do when, the fertilizer schedule, and the pests to watch. Confirm specifics with your local KVK.

This is a practical, season-long guide for sugarcane — built from package-of-practice norms. Always confirm doses, products and exact timing with your local KVK / agriculture officer; conditions vary by area and year.

Crop stages

• Planting & germination (day 0–45)

• Tillering (day 45–120)

• Grand growth (day 120–270)

• Maturity & harvest (day 270–360)

What to do, when

• Day 0: Plant setts + basal fertilizer

• Day 45: 1st N top-dress + earthing at tillering

• Day 60: Scout for early shoot borer

• Day 120: 2nd N + earthing-up at grand growth

• Day 150: Propping / tying of canes

• Day 360: Harvest + book mill / market

Fertilizer schedule (soil-test led)

• Planting & germination: FYM + full P + K + 1/3 N (basal) — 10 t FYM + 35 kg P2O5 + 50 kg K2O — soil-test-led

• Tillering: 1st N + earthing — ~50 kg N

• Grand growth: 2nd N + earthing-up — ~50 kg N — before monsoon/tying

Pests & diseases to watch (IPM first)

• Tillering: Early shoot borer — trash mulching, light irrigation, remove dead hearts; confirm with KVK

• Grand growth: Top borer / woolly aphid — detrash, release bio-agents; confirm with KVK

A note on cost & price

Plan your inputs against a budget and track spend as you go. Mandi prices move through the season — check current rates before selling; khetigpt sends price alerts for your district. The figures here are estimates, not guarantees.