Soil Sustainability and Productivity by Alternative Cropping Sequences to Sugarcane Under Different Irrigation Methods

The drip irrigation method significantly increased sugarcane equivalent yield and nutrient use productivity than surface and subsurface irrigation method. The subsurface irrigation method significantly increased water use productivity and was at par with drip irrigation method. The Cotton-beetischolar_main sequence significantly increased water use productivity and nutrient use productivity than sugarcane. The cotton-beetischolar_main sequence significantly increased nutrient use productivity than sugarcane under drip irrigation. It was also observed that, subsurface irrigation method significantly increased availability of nitrogen and phosphorus over all irrigation methods followed by drip irrigation. The cotton-beetischolar_main cropping sequence significantly availed more phosphorus over brinjal-chilli sequence and was at par with sugarcane. The cotton-beetischolar_main sequence under subsurface irrigation method left significantly more nitrogen and phosphorus in soil. Hence, cotton-beetischolar_main was better alternative to sugarcane under subsurface or drip irrigation to increase soil sustainability and water use productivity.