Effects of Long-Term Sugarcane Trash Management Practices on Soil Enzyme Activities in Maharashtra, India

This study aimed to evaluate the “Effects of Long-Term Sugarcane Trash Management Practices on Soil Enzyme Activities in Maharashtra” was conducted during 2023-2025 at Post Graduate laboratory, College of Agriculture, Pune. The study focused on dominant sugarcane growing districts in Maharashtra state, under different sugar recovery zones viz., high, medium and low. Furthermore, a correlation analysis was performed to examine the relationships between soil biological properties, ratoon sugarcane yield and commercial cane sugar content. An additional t-test was also employed to compare the mean scores of enzyme activities viz., dehydrogenase, urease, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and β-glucosidase between the sugarcane trash management and trash burning practices, providing insights into the effects of these practices on ratoon cane yield and commercial cane sugar (CCS%) in ratoon sugarcane across different sugar recovery zones of Maharashtra. However, trash management (trash and mulching) leads to higher enzyme activities viz., dehydrogenase, urease, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and β-glucosidase, higher ratoon sugarcane yield and commercial cane sugar (CCS%) as compared to trash burning practices.