Sugarcane straw can help to increase the moisture content and reduce soil evapora­tion that improve the water use efficiency. Sugarcane has been covered by straw up to 90 days after transplantation due to the increase in the moisture holding capacity for good emergence. Tominaga et al. (2002) reported that soil moisture content was higher in sugarcane field without straw burning than other sugarcane plots burned before harvest and bare soil plots. On the other hand, higher sugarcane production was observed in the unburned management using the APSIM model in South Africa which was related to higher soil moisture content (Thorburn et al. 2002). Shrivastava et al. (2011) reported that sugarcane straw covered on interrow spaces around 0.1 m thick exhibited the highest efficient use of irrigation water by reduc­ing the evaporation loss from the surface of soil. They found that the sugarcane straw maintained the water content of soil at maximum level for a longer duration than the uncovered soil surface. Therefore, sugarcane straw without burning enhanced around 10 % yield.

16.4.2 Soil Carbon Stock

The soil carbon stock increases when the sugarcane straw is left on the ground without burning. Wood (1991) reported that soil carbon stock was 20 % higher in the

0. 0-10.00 cm depth in areas without burning than burned areas under straw man­agement experiments in Australia. Canellas et al. (2003) reported that concentrations of carbons were 22.34 g kg-1 in the cane with straw management and 13.13 g kg-1 in the burned cane in the 20 cm soil depth in Southeastern Brazil. The soil carbon stocks increase about 15 % in the 0.1 m layer after 6 years of green cane management, compared to the burning management (Razafimbelo et al. 2006) . Galdos et al. (2009) reported that soil carbon stocks increased up to 30 % after 8 years of conver­sion due to mechanizing harvest with crop residue management on the field. It is revealed that sugarcane straw is capable to increase the soil carbon stocks in the soil under straw management.