PRESENT STATUS AND FUTURE THRUST OF SUGARCANE MECHANISATION IN INDIA

摘要

Sugarcane is one of the most important cash crops in India. It is cultivated in an area of about four million hectares, on small, medium and fragmented fields. Traditional tools, equipment and machinery operated manually, or by animal and other powersources are predominant in the country. In some areas harvesting is done free of charge in exchange for sugarcane green tops, which are used as cattle feed. The total number of sugarcane planters in use is less than 1500, manufactured by 10 firms. Manualharvesting of sugarcane costs about US2.12 dollar per tonne compared with mechanical harvesting, which ranges from US3.73 dollar to US4.12 dollar per tonne. Issues related to sugarcane mechanisation are being addressed through various programs such as the All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Farm Implements and Machinery, and the National Agricultural Technology Project on Sugarcane Mechanisation.