Agriculture scientists suggest crop rotation to stop the spread, but farmers wary as they feel other crops are prone to climate change-induced devastation

Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh: It is sugarcane harvest season, but Uttar Pradesh Sugar Industry and Sugarcane Development Department’s promotional vehicles buzz around the cane-growing belt of Bijnor asking farmers not to sow red rot infested varieties. The mistimed urgency is ironic as the damage has already been done, with farmers complaining about severe loss in a crop considered the safest among all.   

However, the department does not agree. "We carried out frequent checks last year to prevent farmers from sowing diseased varieties. We went to villages with scientists to make them aware and to appeal to them to sow the varieties suggested by scientists,” claimed Prabhu Narayan, District Sugarcane Officer, Bijnor, adding that this time crop health is better than last year in the district, where 2,58,155 hectares are under sugarcane cultivation.

After a record production of 12.43 crore quintals in 2023-24, Bijnor district recorded a decrease in production by three crore quintals so far this fiscal. Once Glomerella tucumanensis fungus affects sugarane, the leaf colour changes from green to orange and then yellow. These symptoms appear within 16 to 21 days of infection. The cane stalks start to wilt from bottom to top in the next 10 to 15 days. If cut open, a red patch that runs across the whole length of the cane would be visible.

“Sugarcane will dry up after the disease, and no medicine works,” said Dr RV Ram, Deputy Sugarcane Commissioner, Devipatan block, which is made up of four districts — Gonda, Bahraich, Balrampur and Shravasti.

From his experience, Pankaj Trivedi (48) from Brahmawali in Sitapur district knows this bitter truth. With a stoic silence, he stands on the road, watching his fields being destroyed by the disease every passing minute. “Only a few more days,” he said later, pointing to the not-yet-affected stalks. "Where will I take these stalks? What can I do?" he said, as an afterthought. If the harvest was good, he could have got over 700 quintals of sugarcane from two acres.

Arpit Mishra (25) from Pachasa in Sitapur had sown sugarcane in about two-and-a-half acres. "My entire crop was lost in the red rot wave that swept the area from September to November. I removed all the stalks and sowed wheat crop last September. I got only 130 quintals from the two-acre field. Had things worked out well, I would have got around 800 quintals," he lamented.

Farmers from Bhiriya, Kalwari, Muda, Angraura, Jamunia and Deoria of Sitapur district are equally fazed by the losses. As if to rub salt in the wound, farmworkers are no longer ready to work in the affected fields as wages are paid according to sugarcane weight.

“Generally, labourers make Rs 50 to 60 per quintal. The labourers will not benefit if they work in disease-affected fields as the sugarcane weight will be obviously less,” said Rajesh Kumar, a farmer from Devariya in Sitapur. 

The very fact that farmers are facing severe red rot infestation this year makes it clear that they did not use disease resistant varieties nor was any campaign conducted on it during sowing season to make them aware.  

Farmers showing affected sugarcane (Photo - Ramji Mishra, 101Reporters)

The menacing spread

Red rot usually crops up at the end of the monsoon season. Scientists believe the increased disease spread at the end of monsoon season (August-September) is due to moisture. 

"We conduct yearly pre- and post-monsoon checks at farmers’ fields. During one such inspection in an area under Nigohi Sugar Mill in western Uttar Pradesh in 2015, I was shocked to spot some plants with signs of red rot. I had a feeling that this could worsen. I started making farmers aware through meetings and other means. At first, they were not ready to believe us,” recalled Dr Sujeet Pratap Singh, Sugarcane Researcher, Uttar Pradesh Council of Sugarcane Research (UPCSR), Shahjahanpur.

His worst fears came true the next year itself. “This time, the disease even started spreading in eastern Uttar Pradesh.”

Meanwhile, there was no respite in western Uttar Pradesh. In 2016, red rot spread across Shahjahanpur, Sitapur and Kheri districts under Nigohi, Roza, Hargaon and Gola Research Farm sugar mill command areas. In 2017, Bareilly district and Ramkola sugar mill command area in Kushinagar district saw red rot cases. In 2018, it reached many new districts such as Gonda, Balrampur, Maharajganj, Mau, Azamgarh, Hardoi and Pilibhit. By 2019, red rot spread in the majorly cane-growing areas of Meerut and Bijnor.

Singh put in four years (2015-19) to analyse the infection. “After my research, I named it Co 0238 Red-Rot-CF-13,” he said. The name because this virulent pathotype of red rot pathogen affects the sugarcane variety Co 0238. This variety has been in use for about 15 years.

Singh considers Bijnor to be one of the worst-hit districts. "Farmers should sow only the recommended varieties such as Co 0118, Co 15023, Co 13235, COS 17231, CoLK 14201, CoLK 16202 and CoS 18231."

Red rot disease in sugarcane (Photo - Ramji Mishra, 101Reporters)

Tricky solutions

On November 26, 2024, the Uttar Pradesh Sugarcane Department declared Co 0238, Co 11015 and CoPb 95 as susceptible and appealed to farmers not to sow them. Confirming this, Veena Kumari, Principal Secretary, Sugar Industry and Sugarcane Development Department, Uttar Pradesh, told 101Reporters that despite being a high-yielding variety that has been a boon to both farmers and mills, Co 0238 has to be replaced to protect sugarcane from diseases.

To prevent disease spread, Singh suggests that farmers should avoid continuous sowing of sugarcane and adopt crop rotation. “Besides crop rotation, farmers should use cow dung and mycoderma in their fields,” Ravi informed.

According to Dr Sanjeev Kumar Pathak, Extension Officer, UPCSR, sugarcane can be sown from September 15 to October 30, or from February 15 to March 30. If the crop is sown in the first sowing window, sugarcane will be ready for harvesting next September-October. Following the harvest, any short-term crop such as potato, tomato or cabbage can be grown in the field. "It will be better to consult an agricultural scientist if the farmer wants to take up wheat crop during this time," Pathak said.

However, crop rotation is not easy for farmers as climate change outwits them. "Farmers in my area are no longer cultivating wheat or rice, but sugarcane. I had given up on pigeon pea many years ago. This year, even sugarcane ditched me," said Nand Kumar Bajpai, a sugarcane farmer from Brahmawali.  

Heat wave after sowing wheat, hailstorm at the time of harvest, no rain at the time of paddy sowing, heavy rain during paddy harvest, and flood inducing rain in pre-monsoon season affect the crops badly, be it wheat, paddy, black gram, potato, bottle gourd or ridge gourd.  

Another reason for resistance to crop rotation is that sugarcane is the safest crop, which can always provide better earnings than others. “Even if there is a fire, sugarcane can still be sold at a lower rate,” said Dr Manmohan Singh, Senior Scientist, UPCSR.

Sugarcane cultivation has increased in Uttar Pradesh due to farmers not being able to trust the weather. "Even a little unseasonal rain or hailstorm is enough to devastate other crops, but sugarcane withstands all these conditions," said Ambuj Bajpai (47) of Brahmawali village, on why the crop is an all-time favourite of farmers.

Sugar department data show that the area under ​​sugarcane cultivation was 22.99 lakh hectares in 2017-18, which increased to 27.94 lakh hectares in 2018-19. In 2023-24, it touched 29.66 lakh hectares. Notably, with the increase in cropping area, red rot spread has also increased.

According to the information shared by the department, 121 sugar mills were operational in Uttar Pradesh in 2023-24. However, the red rot issue is slowly affecting the functioning of sugar mills as well. Last year, the mills in Bareilly were processing cane until April. This year, at least four mills in the district will finish crushing by February itself as excessive rain in July and September last year and red rot infestation affected sugarcane production.

Dry sugarcane used as firewood in the village (Photo - Ramji Mishra, 101Reporters)

No compensation?

Farmers and farmworkers of Brahmawali, Pachasa, Bhiriya, Kalwari, Muda, Angraura, Jamunia and Deoria villages in Sitapur district claimed that they have neither received any compensation in connection with red rot infestations nor has any government official contacted them for crop damage survey. Hari Om Shukla, regional head, DCM Shriram Ltd Sugar Mill, Hariyawan, added that he was not aware of any sugarcane farmer getting compensation for crop loss.

To confirm this, 101Reporters called the free helpline 14447 of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Bima Yojana. After two attempts without proper replies, the customer care executive attending the call confirmed that there was no insurance for sugarcane under the scheme.  

No compensation for sugarcane affected by red rot (Photo - Ramji Mishra, 101Reporters)

Explaining further, Sitapur District Agriculture Officer Manjeet Kumar told 101Reporters that the farmers were averse to insuring their sugarcane crop. "They thought the loss in sugarcane was less and their premium money would be wasted. As this trend continued, sugarcane was removed from the list of crops covered under the scheme in Uttar Pradesh," Kumar explained. 

Harivansh Kumar (70) from Brahmavali lost sugarcane in one hectare plot to red rot. "You can sow sugarcane crop once, and harvest it in two years. It is in the second year that we actually make money. However, red rot does not even allow a proper first harvest nowadays. For one acre plot, around 30 quintals of sugarcane seeds are required. The average seed price today is Rs 360 per quintal. Ploughing and sowing require Rs 2,000 per acre. Another Rs 5,000 should be paid to labourers for irrigating and deweeding, with each labourer making Rs 300 a day," he detailed.

If things go as per the plan, a farmer can earn a profit of around Rs 2.5 lakh in the second year of harvest. However, with red rot sticking around, it is going to be a bitter harvest for sugarcane farmers.  

This story was produced as a part of 101Reporters Climate Change Reporting Grant. 

Edited by Rekha Pulinnoli

Cover Photo - Farmer showing red rot affected sugarcane (Photo - Ramji Mishra, 101Reporters)