Sugarcane Cultivation and Nitrate Contamination

Sugarcane is a nutrient exhaustive and long duration crop. Due to the intensive sugarcane cultivation in factory area, nitrate contamination is the problems for groundwater resource in Bihar. Nitrate has no taste and odour in water and can be detected by chemical test only. Bihar is one of the states with intensive agricultural areas, especially sugarcane. A study was conducted to assess the potential of nitrate-nitrogen leaching though soil profile and its contamination in ground water as a function of soil properties and agricultural activities in the sugarcane growing areas where, nitrogenous fertilizers were applied intensively years after years. The effects of heavy nitrogen application on sugarcane quality also estimated. Total 64 soil samples from four different depths, 16 sugarcane samples and 24 groundwater and 8 surface water samples were collected. The soil samples were analysed for physic-chemical characters and nitrate- nitrogen while sugarcane juice were analysed for brix, sucrose, purity and CCS and water samples for pH, EC, NO3-N load and ionic concentration. Infants and babies living around the area have health risks from NO3- by drinking water from the wells.