no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or ... · examples: lucknow, kalam, kabir,...

© 2016 by Dalmia Bharat Foundation

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or distributed in any form or by any means

without the prior permission of Dalmia Bharat Foundation.

Sugarcane Cultivator

Table Of Content

S. No. Modules and Units Page No.

i. Note to Trainer 1

ii. Activities to be Conducted during the Course 2

iii. Tips for Effective Training 8

1. Prepare Land for Sugarcane Cultivation 9

2. Prepare And Plantsett 20

3. Macro And Micro Nutrient Management For Crops 33

4. Curb Weed In Filed Crops 40

5. Weed Management in Sugarcane Growing 45

6. Irrigation Management For Field Crops 63

7. Harvest and Post-harvest Management 69

8. Manage Rattoon In Sugarcane Cultivation 80

9. Basic Farm Management 84

10. Assimilating Market Information 88

11. Maintaining Health and Safety at Workplace 92

12. Professional Skills 103

13. Human Development 111

Copyright: Dalmia Bharat Foundation 1

Facilitator Guide

2 Copyright: Dalmia Bharat Foundation


Note to Trainer

The audience that you will be dealing with are from a background have do not have an opportunity towards changing their lives. It is important to understand that their outlook towards life is not any different than any of us; it is only the opportunity that is missing along with personal life situations.

The students only lack the confidence and communication skills but after you build a relationship you

will understand that they are very keen to learn and majority of them are open to feedback.

These students will resist building a connect with the trainer and this is the phase that the trainer needs to keep immense patience and make the sessions as interactive as possible along with frequent

Energizers.

Once connect is established the trainer needs to become assertive and enforce discipline but at the same time ensure not to come across as aggressive and strict. Keep punishments for late coming and not completing homework on an entertaining side like singing and dancing which will come across as fun also pass the message of learning.

Do not neglect the student’s questions at any point of time as this will negatively impact their confidence.

During activities it is important to change teams on a daily basis as this will teach them how to get used to

change and adjust with different people as this will be the key for them to stick on to their jobs.

Overall the students have the same aspirations and outlook in life like all of us, we need to guide them,

make them aware of their strengths and utilising them to their advantage. Building confidence is a key

factor in their development and this can be done only with appreciation for this segment of students.


Facilitator Guide

Activities to be Conducted during the Course

1. Have You Ever?

The group forms a large circle. Have each group member mark their place with a small object. (Cup, hat, keys). While everyone is marking their spots the leader is standing in the center of the circle. Consequently there is one less spot than there are people. If you are indoors with a small group have people pull chairs in a circle.

Explain that this is a game like musical chairs. Instead of music, however, we will use questions. The person in the center will ask a question starting with “Have you ever…?” An example is, “Have you ever gone fishing?”

If you have, you must exchange places with someone from another part of the circle who has also been

kayaking. You cannot change places with someone to the immediate right or left of you. Only ask about

something you have done yourself. Don’t ask “Have you been to China?” Unless you’ve been there.

When the first question is popped, people trade places leisurely. But it quickly becomes evident that the person who moves the slowest does not have a place to go except the center of the circle. That person steps to the center of the circle and asks the next question and the fun begins as people dash to find another spot in the circle.

2. Take a Walk

Ask players to walk around the room. From time to time, call out a particular emotion or character type and have the players change their walk to show the new emotion or character. Encourage players to exaggerate, making their movements and expressions as big as possible. Tell them that anyone watching should be able to guess right away what emotion or character was called out. Help players notice how their movements change instinctively when they act out different emotions. Point out that their hands clench when they are “angry” or that they take smaller steps when they are afraid. Once players get the hand of it, speed up the game to give them practice changing emotions and characters quickly. Don’t forget to debrief at the end of the exercise!

3. What Is It?

Divide the class into small groups and have each group sit in a small circle. Hand one player in each circle an “invisible” ball. Ask the player to decide how big and how heavy the ball is, using facial expression and body language to show this as the group members pass the ball around the circle.

After the ball has rounded the circle, hand the first player an “invisible” lump of clay. Ask the player to mold the clay into an object, silently acting out how to use the object, and then passing the object to the next player in the circle. The next player takes the object, uses it for a different purpose, and them mashes up the clay. Then the player sculpts a new objects and the activity goes so forth around the circle.

Encourage players to make increasingly unusual objects after the obvious ideas have been used up.

Make sure that they are all using the objects in an effective manner.

Let your players experiment with the game to see what they come up with. This game is great for

developing the communication skills of body language and gestures. Don’t forget to debrief!



4. Common Ground

Form equal sized teams of 3-6 players. Give each team a sheet of paper and a pencil. Tell teams their

challenge is to list everything they can think of that all team members have in common.

For example, attending the same school, prefer the same kind of music, have the same brand of

shoes. The only rule is they cannot list similar body parts, i.e. “We all have two arms, etc.”

Tell teams they have three minutes to create their lists, so they need to work quickly. To add to the

excitement, tell the teams when they have 1 minute left, thirty seconds, and so forth.

When time is up, find out which team has the longest list and ask them to read the similarities they

listed. Then ask teams whose similarities have not already been read aloud to read some of theirs.

Discussion:

• How easy was it to discover something in common with another group member? • How can similarities draw us closer together? • How can our differences draw us closer together?

5. Done It

During the class, try to complete as many of the small tasks listed on this “BINGO” card (ask the participants to write the items listed in the table below)! Place a checkmark in the box after completing a task. We will tally up your scores at the end of the day.

Thank someone for Compliment Recite a few Answer Tell a funny joke. something specific. someone else’s lines of a nice someone’s

hairstyle. poem or song. questions about

something.

Give someone a shoulder Say “I’m glad Share Laugh a joke Ask “How are rub. you are here!” something you someone makes you?” and really

have with you (even if it’s not listen to the

(gum, etc.) funny.) answer.

Compliment someone on List three good Tell someone Say “You are Share an their cooking. things about you care. loved!” encouraging

someone. thought or story

with someone.

Tell someone what he or Smile at Tell someone Applaud Compliment she adds to the group. someone. he or she is someone who someone’s taste

wonderful! does something in something nice for you! (music, art,

movies, etc.)

Ask someone about their State a positive Compliment Offer someone a Offer someone children. wish for someone. chair to sit in. something to

someone. drink


Facilitator Guide

6. Connecting Circle

This is a good activity to facilitate group cohesiveness and relationship building, active listening skills, and memory skills. The group members are asked to sit in a large circle. The group leader explains that one way to help remember someone’s name is by associating it with something about them. An example can be given: “My name is Sanju and I love to cook dosa.” The leader then introduces him or herself and states a personal hobby or special interest in the preceding format. The participants are asked to take turns doing the same, and then repeat the name and hobby of the group member who preceded them. This is continued until the entire group has been introduced and each member has stated a special interest.

If a group participant cannot remember all the names and/or special interests of the preceding group members, he or she should be encouraged to ask each participant their name and special interest. This exercise can be a lot of fun but can also create anxiety for participants with a short attention span or poor memory skills. Be sure to create a supportive atmosphere.

7. Famous People and Places

As each participant arrives, tape a 3 x 5 index card on their back with the name of a famous person or city. They must circulate in the room and ask questions that can ONLY be answered with a YES or NO to identify clues that will help them find out the name of the person or city on their index card. Examples: Lucknow, Kalam, Kabir, Mumbai, Amitabh Bachchan, USA.

8. Scavenger Hunt

Requirement: Pencil and paper

Make a list of things for teams to look for through their wallets, purses, and possibly things that are on

their person. Divide into teams by tables, pairs, individuals or whatever seems best. Here is a list of ideas of

what they can look for but modify the list to your liking. Do not list where they might find these items.

• 1990 Paisa (50 paisa) • Rs. 5 note • Rs. 100 notel • Red ribbon • Card (any) • Holograms • A bird • Pearl • Black sock • Roman numeral • Picture of a tree • Tic Tac/Chewing Gum • Paper clip • Measuring tape • Ruler 6 Copyright: Dalmia Bharat Foundation


• Toffee • Toothpick • White button • Pink nail polish • Screw driver • Body Piercing • Mirror • Tattoo • Red hair • Charge receipt over Rs. 100 (bill)

Make a list and copy off the list for each team. Have them check off which items they have: The team with the most checked off wins! At the end, ask them who had some of the extremely odd items, or what creative ways they presented some of the hard to locate items, i.e. there are holograms on credit cards, and Roman numerals on watches.

9. Animal Name, Sound, Motion

After the teams have loosened up and gained some experience working together, this activity provides a

fun way to build a group identity. Each team should discuss for a few minutes and come up with an animal

name, sound, and motion that the members will all do as a team. Each member can act like the chosen

animal or work with the other team members to form the shape of the animal. When teams have decided,

they present what they came up with to the entire group. Along with a good laugh or two, the results

provide identities that the teams can refer to throughout the rest of the training.

You’ll have teams that bark like dogs, roar like lions, or hiss like snakes. The popular eagle act is

expressed by people flapping their arms and making bird-like cries. As strange as all this may seem, the teams actually enjoy the exercise and often adopt the animal names for the rest of the training!

10. Interview

Requirement: Paper and pencil, but it can be done without.

You can use this activity to acquaint members of a newly formed group or help an intact group learn more about one another. All participants interview their partners using their own questions or ones that the facilitator assigns. After the interview process, each person is introduced to the group by his/ her partner. By learning more about one another, the group becomes familiar with each other, thus establishing trust.

• Ask people to pair up with another person in the group whom they don’t know very well. If the

group has an odd number of people, you should partner with someone in the group. • Ask each person to develop two interview questions that they’d like to ask their partners. The

questions can deal with anything about that person, but shouldn’t be too personal. Encourage them to be creative in designing their questions.

• Make sure that you tell the participants that their answers will be disclosed to the entire

group. The following are some sample questions you might want to suggest: • What do you want to be most remembered for?


Facilitator Guide

• What is your proudest accomplishment? • If you could be any animal, what would it be and why? • What person, not related to you, has had the most influence on your life? How? • Make up a book title to describe your life. Why did you choose this? • How would your best friend describe you? • What was your most embarrassing moment? • If you could go anywhere in the world without worrying about time or money, where would you

go? Why? • If you could invite anyone to dinner, who would it be? Why? • What is your earliest memory? • Who would you pick to play your life in a movie? Why? • While walking to your next activity, have the pairs conduct their interviews. At the half waypoint,

ask them to switch and ask the other person their questions.

Have the group sit in a circle. Ask for a volunteer to start, or youcould simply go around the circle. Ask them to introduce their partners by saying their partner’s name and some of the information that they found out during the interview. As a facilitator, this is a good time for you to memorize the names of the participants in your group. You may even want to unobtrusively write down their names for future reference.

11. Gossip

This is a funny game that shows how easily the truth can be twisted. The group sits around in a circle when the first person, starts the game by softly whispering to his neighbor a rather long made-up remark such as “Did you hear that Ravi and Vikas are going to their watch a movie at Chandan Cinemas?” The receiver of the news repeats the remark to his closest neighbor and the news circulates the room. When the message gets around to the last person in the circle, he or she must stand and deliver the message to the entire group. 99 % chance his message is completely different than the original message. (Have the person who delivered the original message confirm this!).

12. Highs & Lows

Another way of summing up at the end of a session is to have the participants write down:

My low point was:

.....................................................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................................................

My high point was:

.....................................................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................................................

Have them call out answers & discuss if necessary. This is a great reflective tool to understand and

revisit the learning of the session!



13. Take Aways

At the end of a training program, it is useful to reflect on what you learned and even more important,

what you will do with what you learned.

Go around the group and give each member a turn to speak to one or more of the following questions:

• Name one thing you will do differently when you leave here today. • What is the most important thing you are going to take away from this experience? • What will you commit to doing to make sure what you learned and achieved here is not lost?


Facilitator Guide

Tips for Effective Training

• Always greet the participants pleasantly and enthusiastically before starting the session. • Always do the revision of previous day topics before starting a new session. • First understand what is the need and objective of this training. Talk to the participants and find

out what they need to be doing differently in this course to achieve the desired objectives.

Establish if the need is based on knowledge, skill or attitude? • Write the objectives that you can realistically achieve given the number of learners you will be

training and the time you have to train them. • Use the material for demonstration to deliver proper understanding about the topic. • Impart the knowledge comprehensively to each participant. • Make the class interactive. Always promote discussions and ask/answer questions to/from the

participants. • Include activities, examples and role plays to make the training interesting and effective. • This is a vocational course; knowledge imparted should be more practical than theoretical



Module 1

Prepare Land for Sugarcane Cultivation

Module Overview

This OS unit is about carrying out land preparation for sugarcane planting.

Module Objectives

On completion of this module, participants will be able to understand:

• Plough the field to bring soil to fine tilth • Level the field for ease of irrigation

• Form ridges and furrows at appropriate depth and distance

• Form drainage channels at appropriate depths and intervals

• Apply compost or filter press in appropriate quantities and at the right locations in the prepared

fields • Prepare past crop residues in the correct proportions

• Apply past crop residues at right quantities and levels

• Maintain the past crop residues for the correct duration

• Maintain the soil pH in appropriate level

Sub-modules (Units)

S. No. Unit Name

1. Machinery and Tools for Cultivation

2. Stages of Land Preparation

3. Application of Manure


Facilitator Guide

Unit 1.1

Machinery and Tools for Cultivation

Planting is the most expensive operation in the sugarcane production system. Money is wasted if the crop is poorly established. To ensure the best crop establishment it is recommended that highest quality planting billets are placed in soil conditions that promote germination and establishment. Given below are the various tools and equipment that are used to prepare the land prior to sowing the seeds for sugarcane plantation

1.1.1. Disc Plough

The disc plough bears little resemblance to the common

mouldboardplough. A large, revolving, concave steel disc replaces the

share and the mouldboard. The disc turns the furrow slice to one side

with a scooping action. The usual size of the disc is 60 cm in diameter

and this turns a 35 to 30 cm furrow slice. The disc plough is more

suitable for land in which there is much fibrous growth of weeds as

the disc cuts and incorporates the weeds. The disc plough works well

in soils free from stones. No harrowing is necessary to break the clods

of the upturned soil as in a mouldboard plough.

1.1.2. Victory Plough

Ransome Victory Plough is a type of single-share mouldboard plough commonly used throughout Southern Africa. Introduced into much of Southern Africa in the mid-

1920s via European farmers and missionaries, it was quickly

adopted over earlier, heavier models that required multiple

spans (teams) of oxen. The Ransome Victory's relatively light

weight allowed it to be pulled by a single

span of oxen, allowing more smallholder farmers who owned fewer cattle to utilize the technology. The Ransome Victory Plough's most recognizable feature is the vertically adjustable pivot wheel in front of the ploughshare (as opposed to a cutting knife or wheel). This pivot wheel, combined with an offset tension bar to which the chain from the yoke is connected, causes the forward motion of oxen to force the blade into the soil. However, the tension bar is typically far weaker than the main plough beam, and is likely the first part of the plough to break. The difficulty of accessing spare parts causes many farmers to simply chain the oxen to the front of the beam, after which the ploughman must use his own strength to keep the plowshare in the soil. Another notable feature is the relatively short mouldboard, which lessens the amount of draft force necessary to pull the plow.



1.1.3. Chisel Plough

Chisel plough is used for breaking hard pans and for deep ploughing (60-70 cm) with less disturbances to the top layers. Its body is thin with replaceable cutting edge so as to have minimum disturbance to the top layers. It contains a replaceable share to shatter the lower layers.

1.1.4. Leveller

The plank of the leveller is made of any locally available wood and shafts are generally made of Sugarcane sticks. Extra weight is added to all type of planks by placing stones on it or having person

(s) ride on it. As the name suggests, levellers are

used for levelling land.

1.1.5. Harrow

A drag harrow, a type of spring-tooth harrow, is a largely

outdated type of soil cultivation implement that is used to

smooth the ground as well as loosen it after it has been plowed

and packed. It uses many flexible iron teeth usually arranged into

three rows. It has no hydraulic functionality and has to be

raised/adjusted with one or multiple manual levers. It is a largely

outdated piece of farm equipment, having been replaced by

more modern disc harrows and hydraulically operated field


Facilitator Guide

cultivators. A drag harrow is used to loosen and even out soil after it has been plowed and packed. It pulls up large rocks which may then be picked up manually and put in the tractor's stone box to remove from the field. The drag harrow also kills some weeds that may be present, but it is not very efficient in doing so due to its highly flexible teeth, hence it is not one of its primary functions.

1.1.6. Rotovator

A cultivator is any of several types of farm implement used for secondary tillage. One sense of the name refers to frames with the teeth (also called shanks) that pierce the soil as they are dragged through it linearly. Another sense refers to machines that use rotary motion of disks or teeth to accomplish a similar result. The rotary tiller is a principle example.

Cultivators stir and pulverize the soil, either before planting (to aerate the soil and prepare a smooth, loose seedbed) or after the crop has begun growing (to kill weeds—controlled disturbance of the topsoil close to the crop plants kills the surrounding weeds by uprooting them, burying their leaves to disrupt their photosynthesis, or a combination of both). Unlike a harrow, which disturbs the entire surface of the soil, cultivators are designed to disturb the soil in careful patterns, sparing the crop plants but disrupting the weeds.



Unit 1.2

Stages of Land Preparation

There are four stages of land preparation namely ploughing, harrowing, leveling and laying out the

field. The processes are explained below in detail.

• Ploughing: Tillage operations through tractor drawn implements are most ideal and quick. For

initial ploughing use either moulds board plough or disc plough. Whenever, soil turning is desired, a mould board plough should be used.

On the other hand when the soil is hard, uneven and composed of crop stubbles, a disc plough is preferable. Ploughing at optimum soil moisture content is very essential to achieve tilth. Too wet soil interrupts movement of machinery and causes destruction of soil structure.

On the other hand too dry soil will not allow tires to penetrate deep and results in frequent mechanical breakdowns, increased power requirement and cloddy soil surface affecting soil water air relations. The secondary tillage operations are carried out using disc harrows, tyned harrows or rotavator. The rotavator is a very useful multipurpose implement, which cuts the crop residues, shred them and incorporates in the soil in one pass. Use mechanical methods (subsoiling or chiseling or deep ploughing) or biological means (green manuring between last ratoon harvest and start of a new crop) to destroy the compacted layer and to allow roots to develop normally. Subsoiling was also shown to reduce fuel consumption, working time and facilitate optimum plant population.

In wetlands, preparatory cultivation by ploughing the land and bringing the soil to fine tilth could not

be done.

»» After harvest of the paddy crop, form irrigation and drainage channels of 40 cm depth and 30

cm width at intervals of 6 m across the field and along the field borders.

»» Form ridges and furrows with a spacing of 80 cm between rows with spade.

»» Stir the furrows with hand hoes and allow the soil to weather for 4 to 5 days.

Problem soils with excessive soil moisture:

In problem soils, with excessive moisture where it is difficult to drain water, form raised beds at 30 cm

intervals with Length - 5 m, Width - 80 cm, and Height -15 cm.

Garden lands with medium and light soils:

In medium and light soil irrigated by flow or lift irrigation adopts the following:

• The initial ploughing with two disc plough followed by eight disc plough and using cultivator for deep ploughing followed by one time operation of rotovator to pulverize the soil to get a fine tilth, free of weeds and stubbles.

• Level the field for proper irrigation.


Facilitator Guide

• Open ridges and furrows at 80 cm apart with the help of victory plough or tractor drawn ridger.

The depth of furrow must be 20 cm. • Open irrigation channels at 10 m intervals. • Harrowing: Lighter or finer operations performed on the soil after primary tillage are known as

secondary tillage. After ploughing, the fields are left with large clods with some weeds and stubbles partially uprooted. Harrowing is done to a shallow depth to crush the clods and to uproot the remaining weeds and stubbles. Disc harrows, cultivators, blade harrows etc., are used for this purpose. Planking is done to crush the hard clods to smoothen the soil surface and to compact the soil lightly. Thus the field is made ready for sowing after ploughing by harrowing and planking.

• Leveling: Leveling, smoothing and shaping the field surface is as important to the surface system as the

design of laterals, manifolds, risers and outlets is for sprinkler or trickle irrigation systems. It is a

process for ensuring that the depths and discharge variations over the field are relatively uniform and, as a result, that water distributions in the root zone are also uniform. These field operations are

required nearly every cropping season, particularly where substantial cultivation following harvest disrupts the field surface. The preparation of the field surface for conveyance and distribution of irrigation water is as important to efficient surface irrigation as any other single management practice

the farmer employs.There are perhaps two land leveling philosophies: (1) to provide a slope which fits

a water supply; and (2) to level the field to its best condition with minimal earth movement and then

vary the water supply for the field condition. The second philosophy is generally the most feasible. Because land leveling is expensive and large earth movements may leave significant areas of the field

without fertile topsoil, this second philosophy is also generally the most economic approach. Land

leveling always improves the efficiency of water, labour and energy resources utilization. The leveling

operation, however, can be the most intensively disruptive cultural practice applied to the field and

several factors should be considered before implementing a land leveling project. Major topographical

changes will nearly always reduce crop production in the cut areas until fertility can be replaced. Similarly, equipment traffic can so compact or pulverize the soil that water penetration is a major

problem for some time. The farmer has many activities which contribute to his productivity and

therefore require his skill and labour. The irrigation system should be designed with him (or her) in

mind. A field leveled to high standards is generally more easily irrigated than one where undulations require special attention. New equipment is continually being introduced which provides the capability

for more precise land leveling operations. One of the most significant advances has been the

adaptation of laser control in land leveling equipment. The



equipment has made level basin irrigation particularly attractive since the final field grade can be very precise. Comparisons with less precise techniques have clearly shown that laser-leveled fields achieve better irrigation and production performance. Nevertheless, for most irrigated agriculture, laser-controlled precision is unfeasible because of the high cost of such equipment unless a large number of farmers form a cooperative or a government programme is started with subsidized land leveling as one component in an effort to improve farm production.

• Laying out the field: After the seedbed preparation, the field is laid out properly for irrigation and sowing or planting seedlings. These operations are crop specific. For most of the crops like wheat, soybean, pearl millet, groundnut, castor etc., fIat leveled seedbed is prepared. After the secondary tillage, these crops are sown without any land treatments. However, growing crops during rainy season in deep black soils is a problem due to ill-drained conditions and as tillage is not possible during the rainy season. Broad bed and furrows (BBF) are, therefore, formed before the onset of monsoon and dry sowing is resorted to.For some crops like maize, vegetables etc., the field has to be laid out into ridges and furrows. Sugarcane is planted in the furrows or trenches. Crops like tobacco, tomato and chilies are planted with equal inter and intra-row spacing so as to facilitate two-way intercultivation. After field preparation, a marker is run in both the directions. The seedlings are transplanted at the intercepts.

• Layout of Seedbed:The tillage operations that are carried out in the standing crop are called after

tillage. It includes drilling or side dressing of fertilizers, earthing up and intercultivation. Earthing up is an operation carried out with country plough or ridge plough so as to form ridges at the base of the crop. It is done either to provide extra support against lodging as in sugarcane or to provide more soil volume for better growth of tubers as in potato or to facilitate irrigation as in vegetables. Intercultivation is working blade harrows, rotary hoes etc., in between the crop rows so as to control weeds. Intercultivation may also serve as moisture conservation measure by closing deep cracks in black soils.


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