Vol. 9, Special Issue 12, Part B (2025)

Sugarcane is one of the most important commercial crops, especially in tropical and subtropical regions. Sulphur deficient soils greatly affect the growth and yield attributes of sugarcane and cause serious production losses. In nature and agriculture-based ecosystems, sulphur (S) has transitioned from a “neglected” or “secondary” nutrient to being widely considered the fourth major nutrient in crop production, essential for maximizing yield and quality. It is essential for maintaining good soil health and fertility status. An experiment was conducted based on sulphur management in sulphur deficient sugarcane grown soil where varying doses of 60 kg S ha^-1 sulphur was applied through gypsum and elemental sulphur as a source at basal stages, basal with double split doses and basal with triple split doses. The experimental results revealed that T₁₀ (STD+Gyp_15+30+15) treatment promoted higher chlorophyll synthesis and more balanced chlorophyll a/ chlorophyll b ratio (0.76) which is associated with higher photosynthetic efficiency in early stages. Highest commercial cane sugar yield, commercial cane sugar%, cane yield, juice extraction% and jaggery yield were observed in T₁₀ (STD+Gyp_15+30+15) as 14.4 t ha^-1, 12.82%, 112 t ha^-1, 53%, 21.7 t ha^-1 respectively. Improvement in sugarcane juice quality was also observed in treatments T₆, T₆ and T₇, T₁₀, T₆ and T₁₀ with respect to parameters like brix (18.3), sucrose content (17.7%), purity (98.9%) and pH (6.35 and 6.34) respectively. Among all the treatments, T₁₀ showed the best result in terms of plant height (320 cm) and growth rate (1.35 cm day^-1). The control treatment could only reach a plant height of 190 cm, which was the lowest. T₈ had the highest final growth rate (0.47 cm/day), followed by T₁₀ (0.45 cm day^-1). The S integrated practices maintained a higher growth rate than non-supplemented crops, particularly with gypsum source. The split application of S @ 60 kg ha^-1 in the experiment helped in the consistent growth of sugarcane and produced a yield of optimum quality and quantity.