Impact of Organic Farming on Sugarcane Juice Quality and Jaggery Production Hebbal Narayan1, Ramachandra C.2, Mallareddy3 1Department of Agronomy, UAS, GKVK, Bengaluru 2Department of Agronomy, ZARS, VC, Farm, Mandya 3Department of Agronomy, UAS, Raichur Online published on 23 December, 2016. Abstract Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) is an economically important agro-industrial crop. It provides a rich source of sucrose, alcohol and organic matter waste which is utilized as fertilizer. Organic farming is a holistic production management system which promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health, including bio-diversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It emphasizes the use of management practices using naturally available resources. This is accomplished by using agronomic, biological, and mechanical methods, as opposed to using synthetic materials. To produce organic sugar/jaggery, organically grown sugarcane is a prerequisite. The usage of organic farming practice like organic nutrient management, cultural practices, irrigation practices, trash management, biofertilizer, green manuring, intercrop in sugarcane does not influenced on the quality parameters. The organic farming practice are helps to maintain the soil health without any chemical contamination and through organic farming practices yieldsare comparable with chemical practice without reducing quality. The hazardous chemicals (Calcium oxide, Sodium hydro sulphate) used in jaggery preparation could be replaced by the plant based clarifying agents (Bhendi, Groundnut and Caster)for better quality and nontoxic jaggery without reducing the jaggery yield. Top Keywords Sugarcane, Juice, Jaggery, quality, organic. Top |