Efficiency of Urea,Nitrification Inhibitor treated Urea and Slow Release Nitrogen Fertilizers for Sugarcane

A field experiment conducted for two crop seasons (1976-77 and 1977-78) showed that the treatment of urea with nitrification inhibitor Nitrapyrin (also refered as ‘N-Serve’) or neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) cake increased its efficiency by preventing N losses and produced significantly more cane. In one of the years sulphur coated urea (Gold N) at lower rate (75 kg N/ha) gave higher sucrose content in juice and significantly more commercial cane sugar (CCS) than uncoated urea. Considering both the cane yield and CCS production mixing or coating of urea with neem cake holds considerable promise and needs wider testing along with and in comparison to nitrification inhibitors and sulphur coated urea and other slow release fertilizers for increasing the efficiency of nitrogen applied to sugarcane.