# Soil Sustainability Through Introduction of Legumes in Sugarcane

C.K. Jha, Ajeet Kumar

<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>

## To cite this version:

C.K. Jha, Ajeet Kumar. Soil Sustainability Through Introduction of Legumes in Sugarcane. 2021. [hal-04881387](https://hal.science/hal-04881387v1)

HAL Id: hal-04881387

https://hal.science/hal-04881387v1

Submitted on 12 Jan 2025

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access
archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-
entific research documents, whether they are pub-
lished or not. The documents may come from
teaching and research institutions in France or
abroad, or from public or private research centers.

L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est
destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents
scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non,
émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de
recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires
publics ou privés.

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /></figure>

Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
# Soil Sustainability Through Introduction of Legumes in Sugarcane

Dr.C.K.Jha¹, Dr. Ajeet Kumar² and Dr.A.K.Singh³

1 Assistant Professor-cum-Scientist

2 Director

Sugarcane Research Institute

Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central agricultural University, Pusa (Samastipur) Bihar

## Introduction

Sustainable agriculture is a long goal that seeks to overcome the problems and constraints that confront the economic viability, environmental soundness and social acceptance of agriculture production systems. No systems of farming will be sustainable unless the soil which forms pivot and is the most important natural resource is managed scientifically to meet the present and future needs, its productivity and quality are maintained continuously and there is no reduction of output, wit input. In this context, introduction of legume assume special significance because they contribute in nitrogen fixation and it biomass act as a source of novel green manure. A sugarcane crop giving cane yield of 100 t/ha may remove 205 kg N, 55 kg P and 275 kg K, 30 kg S, 3.5 kg Fe, 1.2 kg Mn, 0.6 kg Zn, 0.2 kg Cu sides the losses of nutrients during cropping season. The deterioration in soil health and ecology has been reported in recent years mainly due to erratic climatic behaviour. Continuous use of heavy doses of fertilizers and plant protection chemicals potentially impaired the soil microbial activity, leading to poor soil health (Singh *et al.*, 2007). The yield of sugarcane has reached a plateau due to decline in factor productivity (Yadav *et al.*, 1998). The area under sugarcane is not likely to increase and the increased sugar production has to be achieved through vertical growth in productivity. Continuous sugarcane cropping with imbalance use of fertilizers and the use of only inorganic fertilizers had led to depletion of organic carbon, available phosphorus, potassium, and micronutrients in the soil and posing threat to the long term productivity. Soils of the world's agro ecosystems (i.e., croplands, grazing lands, rangelands) are depleted of their soil organic carbon (SOC) stock by 25-75% depending on climate, soil type, and historic management, and the magnitude of this loss may be 10 to 50 Mg C ha⁻¹ (Lal, 2011). Spring sugarcane produces lesser yield than autumn crop as the spring crop get shorter time for growth and development (Singh *et al.*, 2010). Various organic sources like farmyard manure (FYM), oil cakes, press mud cake, vermicompost, green manure and legume as intercrops used as sources of nutrients since ages. Organic sources of nutrients not
only help in supplementing the nutrients to sugarcane but also maintain favourable physical, chemical and biological soil environment.

## Soil Sustainability

Sustainable farming is the successful management of resources for agricultural production to satisfy the human needs while maintaining or enhancing the quality of environment and conserving natural resources. Sustaining or increasing soil organic matter is of great importance in terms of cycling plant nutrient, minimizing the need of inorganic fertilizer, and improving soil physical, chemical and biological properties. The soil organic matter (SOM) pool comprises of active, intermediate/slow and passive pools, which act as sensitive indicators of soil quality. The active pools generally contribute about 10-20% towards total SOM, whereas the stable or passive pools have 50-90% contribution towards total SOM. The soil organic carbon (SOC) stock is comprised of labile or actively cycling pool. Labile C pool is the fraction of SOC with rapid turnover rates. Some carbon pools like CO2 evolution, soil microbial biomass carbon and water-soluble carbon are used as an indicator of soil quality. Soil microbial biomass study reflects energy flow, acts as an agent of transformation of all substances and reflects on a labile pool of C, N, P, S and micronutrients (Mishra et al. 2008). Soil quality is yardstick of good soil management for sustainable farming. Following are the parameters for estimating soil quality:

### Soil quality Index

* Nutrient availability-capacity and intensity factor.

* Soil depth and water holding capacity.

* Soil reaction, salinity and sodicity.

* Soil physical environment- aeration, drainage, structure

* Hydrological regimes- water logging, water efficiency etc.

* Soil erosion, and soil and water loss.

* Soil biology, microorganisms

* Soil productivity as an integrated index of all these factors.

Any system of farming which causes adverse effect on these parameters of soil quality

**unsustainable.**
## Sugarcane Scenario

Sugarcane is being grown in about 126 million ha in the world with a total cane production of approximately 1850 million tonnes. Out of the total white crystal sugar production, approximately 80% comes from sugarcane and 20% from sugar beet. More than 115 countries cultivate sugarcane with a total sugar production of 177 million tonnes. Brazil is the largest producer of sugar followed by India. About 172 million tonnes of sugar is being consumed globally. Sugarcane is also a source of alternate products like feed, fibre and energy, particularly biofuel and co-generation, apart from sugar. The crop being one of the most efficient converter of biomass to energy and thereby an excellent source of biofuel production, there has been a heightened focus on sugarcane cultivation, sugar trade and that of other related products at national as well as international level. Out of the total global sugar output, developing countries contribute approximately 70% of the total production.

## Nutrient Requirement of sugarcane

Sugarcane being a heavy feeder and long duration crop suffers from persistent nutrient unbalance due to gap between nutrient removal and application. The depleting soil health and crop productivity in the sugarcane cultivating area of sub-tropical states namely Uttar Pradesh. Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Bihar are a major concern because of reduced yields, clearly visualized from the static average productivity hovering close to 60 t ha⁻¹ in last five years compared to its potential yield of 150 t ha⁻¹ (Srivastava *et al.*, 2014). The frequent and excessive use of chemical fertilizers has created various problems like widespread deficiency of secondary and micronutrients, decline in crop productivity and increasing environmental pollution (Pathak and Ghosh, 1996). There are several reasons of low productivity of sugarcane in Bihar. The long term experiment on sugarcane clearly indicated that neither the chemical fertilizer alone nor the organic sources exclusively can achieve production sustainability of soil and crop. It is imperative to substitute a part of N fertilizer by locally available organic sources of nutrients viz., manure, crop residue, biofertilizers in a synergistic manner (Singh *et al.*, 2007). The integrated use of organics and inorganics can replace and sustain soil fertility and productivity. The application of 25% N through FYM/CSPM with 50 and 75% NPK along with biofertilizers in sugarcane plant and addition of trash & bio-fertilizer in ratoon crop may be used for sustaining sugarcane productivity and economizing the use of chemical fertilizer with substitution of 25% N with organic manure in sugarcane plant-ratoon system (Thakur and Jha, 2011). Several elite varieties of sugarcane has been developed from Sugarcane Research Institute, Pusa with a potential of producing cane yield of about 90-100 t ha⁻¹. The poor yield of sugarcane in state
is mainly due to lack of application of organic nutrient sources and erratic & unbalanced use of chemical fertilizer. The decline in organic matter and available nutrient especially N is root cause of low productivity. Secondly, soils of sugarcane growing areas are rich in free CaCO3 resulting in low availability of available P and micronutrient. In addition, the continuous mining of nutrients under sugarcane plant-ratoon system further leads to deterioration in fertility status of soil.

## Organic manure and sugarcane productivity

Organic manures improves the quality of juice and jaggery due to balanced supply of all essential nutrients in right proportion and slow release throughout the cropping season. Various organic sources like farmyard manure (FYM), oil cakes, press mud cake, vermicompost, green manure, legume as intercrops and sugarcane trash are used as sources of nutrients since ages. Organic sources of nutrients not only help in supplementing the nutrients to sugarcane but also maintain favourable physical, chemical and biological soil environment (Bhattacharya and Gehlot, 2003). This will help in not only utilizing locally available bio-resources to be tapped as sources of nutrients for cane cultivation, but also disposal of such resources in an effective manner. No single source of plant nutrients i.e. chemical fertilizers, organic manures or bio-fertilizers can meet the entire nutrient demand of crop in intensive agriculture. Sugarcane trash is one of the most commonly available farm wastes in sugarcane growing areas. About 5-8 t of trash can be obtained from one ha of sugarcane and contains about 5.4 kg N, 1.3 kg P2O5 and 3.1 kg K2O t⁻¹ of sugarcane trash and small quantities of micronutrients. The proper decomposition of sugarcane trash will be accelerated with the use of decomposer.

## Intercropping in sugarcane

Intercropping is an age old practice of growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same piece of land. It is a technique of crop intensification in both time and space wherein competition between crops may occur during a part or whole growth period. Autumn planted sugarcane is most suitable for growing intercrops as its growth slows down because of low temperature during November to February when condition are suitable for short duration rabi crop, which can be successfully grown between inter spaces of sugarcane. There is a little scope of increasing area under sugarcane due to heavy competition for food, fibre, oilseed, pulses etc. Therefore, the only alternative left is to increase the vertical production of sugarcane and sugar by finding out the efficient agronomic management practices. In recent years, several changes in cropping system been observed. Several studies demonstrated that the total productivity of crops in sugarcane + rabi crops intercropping system is substantially higher than the total productivity of sole rabi crop in winter followed by sole sugarcane
planted in spring season. Dwarf type crops with compact canopy including legumes, oilseeds, cereals, spices and vegetables are suitable as intercrops in autumn planted sugarcane. Potato has been reported to be a promising intercrop in autumn planted sugarcane in sub-tropical India. Therefore, cultivation of short duration spices and vegetables as intercrops in sugarcane can be a successful package as it provides the needed income during the early stages and increases the total productivity without affecting the cane yield in the system. The sole cropping has been shifted to intercropping system which has proved to be productive, economically feasible and sustainable. Intercropping is the best alternative for increasing the area under sugarcane cultivation. Growing pulses with sugarcane crop not only increases the area under pulse crop but also reduces the intensity of weeds and provides mid-season income to house-holds for further use of critical inputs to sugarcane along with additional employment opportunities.

* Generation of short term income.

* Problem associated with adverse climatic condition may be minimized by intercropping system.

* Among spices, intercropping of pulses along with sugarcane increased the cane yield than sugarcane alone.

* Intercropping controls weeds up to 60% in initial stage. It also acts as a live mulch and preserve soil moisture.

* Intercropping of pulses along with sugarcane maintain the fertility status of soil for sustaining system productivity.

## Contribution to the Economy

Sugar industry contributes significantly to the rural economy as the sugar mills are located in the rural areas and provides employment for nearly 4% of the population directly or indirectly. The various by-products of sugar industry also contribute to the economic growth by promoting a number of subsidiary industries. Sugarcane is grown only in 2.57% of the gross cropped area and contribute 1.1% to the national economy. The contribution of sugarcane to the agricultural GDP has steadily increased from about 5% in 1990-91 to 10% in 2010-11. During the past two decades, the average annual growth of sugarcane agriculture sector was about 2.6% as against the overall growth of 3% in agriculture sector in the country.

## Resource Constraints

Continued monocropping of sugarcane without crop rotation and organic recycling for several decades have depleted the soil fertility considerably. Singh (2008) reported that there is an estimated loss of 4.5 to 7.9 % in sugarcane yield due to soil degradation in India.
Productivity of the soils has come down due to the degradation of the physical and chemical
properties and decline in rhizosphere microbial activities. Decline in soil organic carbon
content has been very apparent over the years affecting productivity. Significant reduction in
soil organic carbon content following continued sugarcane cultivation had also been reported
from several parts of India. Continued monocropping of sugarcane also has resulted in
depletion of water resources at an alarming rate. The water requirement of sugarcane crop is
close to 2500 mm in tropics and 1500 in subtropics. Scarce rainfall and depletion of ground
water is adversely affecting the cane area and production in serious proportions. The situation
is grave enough to warrant moderation of water use of the crop through water use efficient
varieties and micro irrigation methods. Sugarcane soils are deficient in some of the macro
and micro nutrients, an issue that has not been seriously considered so far. Deficiency in
Sulphur, Zinc and Iron is common and can affect the photosynthetic and other biochemical
processes contributing to yield.

Effect of Legumes on Soil Quality

Legumes have long been recognized and valued as "soil building" crops. Growing legumes improves soil quality through their beneficial effects on soil biological, chemical and physical conditions. As we know Sugarcane is a long duration widely spaced crop with its sowing with spacing of 75 to 150 cm. It is a slow growing crop up to 80-90 days. Its efficient root system helps to tap plant nutrients and moisture from the soil deep layers allowing the intercrops to feed at the top layer of soil. The enhancement in organic carbon content over control was up to the extent of 17.64 percent has been recorded due to intercropping of green gram in sugarcane production system (Table-1). It reflect that legumes are not only contribute nitrogen for sugarcane but improve soil quality for sustaining sugarcane production The application of only inorganic fertilizer was not effective for maintaining fertility status of soil. The CO2 evolution provides indirect measurement of microbial activity and rate of decomposition in the soil. Increase in soil respiration under different treatments may also be due to increased microbial activity due to supply of labile C fractions in soil through enrichment of soil organic matter. The data indicated that application of organic manure improved BD and porosity of soil due to improvement in carbon content of soil. The increase in soil organic carbon stocks may be attributed to increase in soil organic carbon content in soil and improvement in bulk density. The SOC and its pool fractions lead to improved soil fertility, sustainability and environmental quality in long-run (Carter, 2002).
## 1.1 Effect of Legumes on Soil Quality

<table><caption>Table 1.2 Effect of INM module on soil quality parameters after sugarcane harvest.</caption><tr><td>Improve nutrient use efficiency</td><td>Increase soil aeration</td><td>Stimulate soil biological activity</td><td>Increase the soil reserves of organic matter</td></tr><tr><td>Enhance the N-supplying power of soils</td><td>Reduce bulk density of soil</td><td>Reduce soil erosion by wind and water</td><td>Improve soil structure</td></tr><tr><td>Improve soil aggregate</td><td>Improve water trassmissin in soil</td><td>Make the soil easier to till</td><td>Improve soil water-holding capacity</td></tr></table>

<table><thead><tr><th>Treatments</th><th>OC (%)</th><th>SMBC (mg kg<sup>-1</sup>)</th><th>CO<sub>2</sub> Evolution (mg 100g<sup>-1</sup> soil 24 hr<sup>-1</sup>)</th><th>BD (Mg m<sup>-3</sup>)</th><th>TOC (g kg<sup>-1</sup>)</th><th>Soil Carbon Stock (t C ha<sup>-1</sup>)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>T1-RDF</td><td>0.42</td><td>95.7</td><td>61.2</td><td>1.55</td><td>13.21</td><td>9.8</td></tr><tr><td>T2-100% N, IF + ST 6t ha<sup>-1</sup> + Trichoderma</td><td>0.55</td><td>133.7</td><td>90.9</td><td>1.52</td><td>17.78</td><td>12.9</td></tr><tr><td>T3-100% N as IF + green gram + Rhizobium</td><td>0.51</td><td>190.0</td><td>134.9</td><td>1.49</td><td>18.44</td><td>11.9</td></tr><tr><td>T4-25% N, IF + 75% N, BC, PL + NC, ER + Azophos</td><td>0.52</td><td>203.0</td><td>146.2</td><td>1.50</td><td>17.06</td><td>12.2</td></tr><tr><td>T5-50% N, IF + 50% N BC, PL + NC ER + Azophos</td><td>0.46</td><td>195.7</td><td>142.9</td><td>1.52</td><td>16.69</td><td>10.8</td></tr><tr><td>T6-75% N IF + 25% N BC, PL + NC, ER + Azophos</td><td>0.45</td><td>192.3</td><td>135.0</td><td>1.54</td><td>15.97</td><td>10.5</td></tr><tr><td>T7-100% N BC, PL + NC, ER + Azophos</td><td>0.56</td><td>213.7</td><td>160.3</td><td>1.47</td><td>20.61</td><td>13.1</td></tr><tr><td>CD</td><td>0.03</td><td>14.51</td><td>10.89</td><td>0.04</td><td>1.25</td><td>0.58</td></tr></tbody></table>

RDF- Recommended Dose of Fertilizer, IF- Inorganic fertilizer, ST- Sugarcane Trash, BC- Biocompost, PL- Planting, NC- Neem Cake, ER- Earthing up, *Azophos- Azotobacter* + Phosphate solubilising Bacteria

(Source: Abhishek Ranjan and C.K.Jha; 2019, M.Sc Thesis, Department of soil Science, RPCAU, Pusa)

**Leguminous as intercrops:** Crop rotation involving legumes and spatial arrangement of crops to accommodate legumes aid in fixing the atmospheric nitrogen in the legume rhizosphere in varying quantities depending on the species. Major part of this can be made available to the sugarcane crop. Thus, the quantity of nutrients required to be applied for the sugarcane crop can be substantially reduced. Legume has a great potential to be used for the betterment of sugarcane plant- ratoon system. The raising of legume as intercrop with sugarcane short period of 45-50 days would add substantial quantity of nutrients in to the soil.
**Legumes as a component of INM:** Integrated nutrient management (INM) is maintenance of soil fertility and plant nutrient supply to an optimum level for sustaining desired crop productivity through optimization of all possible sources of plant nutrients in an integrated manner. The main objective of integrated nutrient management is to improve and sustain soil fertility for providing a sound basis for crop production systems and to meet changing needs (FAO, 2003). The basic principle of INM is the maintenance of soil fertility, sustain agricultural productivity and improve farmers' profitability through judicious and efficient use of chemical fertilizers, organic matter, green manures and biofertilizer. It uses the inputs available on the farm and also purchased externally in the most efficient manner to obtain productivity and profitability in as sustainable manner over a long period of time with minimizing adverse effects on the environment. In general the removal of plant nutrient is more in cereal crops than the legume crops therefore; legume is preferred to be included in crop sequence to sustain soil productivity.

The legume in sugarcane farming system is grown in rotation and as green manuring crops: Before the chemical fertilizers come in use in sugarcane farming system green manuring was consider as a dispensable practices. As result of that there was general recommendation to north India 1/2 to 2/3 nutrients apply through green manuring or organic manure. The principle green manuring crops included sunhemp, dhaincha, bean, guar sainji, berseem, menthi, pea, khesari and lentil. Spring planted sugarcane was usually grown in field kept fallow or green manured during mansoon season for getting higher cane yield. The green manuring of legume crops give benefit of 19-43% increase in the yield of spring sugarcane, however spring sugarcane is not able to derive full benefits of green manuring of Kharif season. (c) Legume as inter crops: Sugarcane is planted generally at in row 90 cm. It's normally take 30-45 day for germination and the initial growth of crops is also slow up to 100 day after planting and also in case of ratoon (Singh and Singh,1992). As a result of the laetrile spread of crop, foliage is not much, secondly green manuring prior to sugarcane is considered as waste full practices because of population pressure on land and availability of chemical fertilizer at cheaper rate. Its not preferred to miss a kharif crops for green manuring so legume in inter row spaces as intercrop is taken. Legumes suitable for intercropping with sugarcane, in autumn planted sugarcane ratoon, berseem, gram, lentil, pea, khesari and for spring planted cane ratoon, summer legume like moong, urd, and cowpea are popular intercrop (Singh et al. (2015)
<table><caption>Table 1.3 Effect of intercropped on sugarcane yield</caption><thead><tr><th rowspan="3">Intercropped legume</th><th colspan="4">Yield (t/ha)</th></tr><tr><th colspan="2">Lucknow</th><th colspan="2">New Delhi</th></tr><tr><th>Sugarcane</th><th>Legume</th><th>Sugarcane</th><th>Legume</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Sugarcane</td><td>110</td><td>-</td><td>50</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>Moong</td><td>113</td><td>0.42</td><td>59</td><td>0.46</td></tr><tr><td>Blackgram</td><td>129</td><td>0.51</td><td>-</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>Soybean</td><td>103</td><td>132</td><td>-</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>Cowpea</td><td>106</td><td>0.51</td><td>57</td><td>045</td></tr><tr><td>CD (5%)</td><td>22.3</td><td>0.31</td><td>NS</td><td>0.28</td></tr></tbody></table>

Source: Singh *et al.* (2015) Journal of Agri Search. 2. 2348-8808

<caption>Fig.1.1 Intercropping of pulses with sugarcane.</caption>

<table><caption>Table1.3 Pulse crops suitable for intercrops in sugarcane</caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2">A. Tropical belt</td></tr><tr><td>Green gram (Vigna radiata)</td><td>Black gram (Vigna mungo)</td></tr><tr><td>Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)</td><td>Urdbean (Vigna mungo)</td></tr><tr><td>Soyabean (Glycin max)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">Subtropics (Autumn planting)</td></tr><tr><td>Lentil (Lens esculentus)</td><td>French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris)</td></tr><tr><td>Peas (Pisum sativum)</td><td>Urdbean (Vigna mungo)</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2">Subtropics (Spring planting)</td></tr><tr><td>Green gram (Vigna radiata)</td><td>Black gram (Vigna mungo)</td></tr><tr><td>Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

**Biofertilizers and legume crop :** Several studies clearly indicate that among the different types of biofertilizers available at present, *Rhizobium* is relatively more effective and widely used. Considering an average N fixation rate of 25 kg/N ha per 500 g application of *Rhizobium*. The biofertilizer inoculated legume enhanced the nutrient use pattern and efficiency of applied fertilizer. The additional benefits of nutrient contributed when legumes are grown with sugarcane inoculated with biofertilizer, On the other hand *Azotobacter*, which is used in non-legume crops has given inconclusive results. The use of *Azospirillum* inoculation in non-legume crops as biotic N source should be advocated. Biofertilizers are also associated with the liberation of growth substances which promote germination and plant growth. As regards phosphate, several phosphate solubilising bacteria are known to mobilize
the significant quantities of soil phosphate. VAM has also favourable effect on P uptake and utilization. Thus, *Rhizobium*, *Azotobactor*, *Azospirillum*, *Blue-green algae*, *Azolla* are used for fixing the atmospheric nitrogen by symbiotic and non-symbiotic means in plant available form. While, Phosphate solubilising bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi are used for solubilising insoluble phosphorus to available form.

**Legume biomass as green manure:** Crop residues are parts of the plant left in the field after crops have been harvested and threshed or left after pasture are grazed. In India about 100 million tonnes of crop residues are available for recycling in agriculture annually. Crop residue when incorporated also improves the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil. Umrit *et al*. (2009) demonstrated that incorporation of legume green manure crops in the soil resulted in substantial amounts of N which became available to the subsequent sugarcane crop. Burning is a minor practice in India and burn the residues causing loss of precious organic matter, plant nutrients and environmental pollution. Rain fed soils are deficient in organic matter. There is need to replenish it by every possible means to sustain soil productivity. Crop residues are reservoir of plant nutrients (especially K) and improve soil physical and biological properties and protect the soil from wind and water erosion. Beneficial effect of legume residue incorporation in rain fed soils on yields of crops have been widely reported.

**Legumes and Soil fertility:** The nutrient supplying capacity of soil can be improved by introduction of legume crop in long duration sugarcane crop in both autumn and spring planted sugarcane. Legume crop act as cover crop and provide unique environment of rhizosphere soil favour greater microbial activity through excretion of aminoacids. The legume crop have ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen in soil and became available for sugarcane crop during the current season. Bhullar *et al*. (2005) from their experiments on intercropping in sugarcane reported that intercropping summer moong and summer mash when green manured in the field after picking the pods, the nitrogen dose to green manured spring cane was reduced by 25%. The legume crop complete their life cycle in three months with enrichment of nitrogen status which remains available for sugarcane crop standing for nine months. A large biomass is available after legume harvest which act as source of green manure for sugarcane. The incorporation of these legume residue improved organic carbon content of soil. The low C:N ratio of the legume crop accelerate its fast decomposition. A further possibility of soil fertility improvement is through addition of crop residues, which on decomposition adds to the fertility of the soil. Since considerable addition of nutrient occurs through intercrops, there is a possibility of reducing N application through fertilizer.
Nutrient mining in sugarcane production system is alarming and causing negative nutrient balance which is indicative of deterioration in soil health in the long run. The depletion of organic matter and multi micronutrient deficiency coupled with deterioration in physical and biological properties of soil became a serious threat for sustainable agriculture. Due to unavailability of traditional source of organic manure in the era of mechanization, raising of leguminous crop as intercrop in sugarcane is feasible and economically viable option and will pave a way for maintaining soil fertility and nutrient requirement of sugarcane during growth period. Legume crop act as cover crop, green manure crop and provide unique environment for rhizosphere soil which favour greater microbial activity and fix substantial quantity of nitrogen in soil. It may improved soil quality indices for sustaining sugarcane production system in the long run. Growing pulses with sugarcane crop not only increases the area under pulse crop but also reduces the intensity of weeds and provides mid-season income to house-holds for further use of critical inputs to sugarcane along with additional employment opportunities.

## References

Bhullar, M.S., Kamboj, A., Singh, G.P. and Kapur, M.L. 2005. Influence of green manuring of intercropped short duration pulses on nitrogen management in spring sugarcane. *Indian Sugar* 55: 71-74.

Carter, M.R. 2002. Soil quality for sustainable land management: Organic matter management and aggregation interactions that maintain soil functions. *Agronomy Journal* 94: 38-47.

Goswami, N.N., Rattan, R.K., Dev, G., Narayanasamy, G., Das, D.K., Sanyal, S., Pal, D.K. and Rao, D.L.N. 2002. Fundamentals of Soil Science. Indian Society of Soil Science, ISBN 81-903797-4-7.

Kumar, Vijay and Chand, Mehar. 2009. Integrated nutrient management in sugarcane Eds. Sugarcane: Crop Production and Improvement, Singh, S. B., Rao, G. P., Soloman, S. and Gopalasundarm, Ist Eds. Studium Press LLC, Texas, USA.

Lal, Rattan. 2004. Soil Carbon Sequestration Impacts on Global Climate Change and Food Security. Science (New York, N.Y.). 304. 1623-7. 10.1126/science.1097396.

Thakur, S.K. and Jha C.K. (2011). Integrated effect of nutrients on yield, uptake and juice quality of Sugarcane. *Indian Agriculturist* 55(3&4):157-162.

Mishra, B., A. Sharma, S. K., Singh, J. Prasad and B. P Singh. 2008. Influence of continuous application of amendments to maize-wheat cropping system on dynamics of soil microbial biomass in Alfisol of Jharkhand. *Journal of the Indian Society of Soil Science* 56: 71-75.

Pathak, A.K. and Ghosh, T.S. (1996). Nutrient management in rice-wheat cropping system. *Fertilizer News* 41: 55-58.

Ranjan, Abhishek and Jha, C.K. 2019. Effect of Integrated Nutrient Management Modules on Soil Fertility and Productivity of Sugarcane in Calcareous Soil. PG Thesis, Department of Soil Science, RPCAU, Pusa. PP 1-154.
Singh, Anil & Bharahi, RC & Chandra, N & Dimree, S. (2015). Integrated Nutrient Management System: Smart way to improve cane production from sugarcane ratoon. *Journal of Agri Search*. 2. 2348-8808.

Singh KP, Srivastava TK, Singh PN and, Suman Archna. 2007. Enhancing soil fertility, microbial activity and sugarcane (*Saccharum officinarum*) productivity through organics in sub-tropical system. *Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences* 2:84-87.

Srivastava, T. K., Singh K. P. and Singh, Puspa (2014). Organic sugarcane production System for enhanced soil health and crop productivity. *Indian Journal of Sugarcane Technology*, 29(2): 41-50.

Umrit, G., Bholah, M.A. and Ng Kee Kwong, K.F. 2009. Nitrogen benefits of legume green manuring in sugarcane farming systems in Mautitius. *Sugar Tech*. 11(1): 12-16.

Yadav, R.L., Yadav, D.S., Singh, R.M. and Kumar, A. 1998. Long-term effect of inorganic fertilizer inputs and crop productivity in rice-wheat cropping system, *Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems* 51: 193-200.