The present study investigated the effects of chemical fertilizer reduction patterns on the growth, field propagation efficiency, and fertilizer utilization rate of disease-free sugarcane original seedlings to provide a theoretical basis for the application of mulched drip fertigation, and to identify the optimal pattern for reducing fertilizer in the field propagation of disease-free sugarcane original seedlings. Under the condition of drip irrigation management, six different treatments were set: no fertilization (CK₀), conventional fertilization (CK₁), mulched drip fertigation T₁₀₀ (fertilizer amount equated with CK₁) and T₈₀, T₇₀, T₆₀ (20%, 30% and 40% reduction of the fertilization rate in T₁₀₀). A comparative analysis was done on the main agronomic traits, total bud count per unit area, propagation efficiency, economic benefit, and nutrient utilization rate during the field propagation of disease-free sugarcane original seedlings. The results showed that the two-year average tillering rate in the treatment T₁₀₀ and T₈₀ was slightly lower than that in CK₁. However, significant improvement was observed in the stalk formation rate, the number of buds per plant, and the number of millable stalks compared to CK₁ Notably. T₁₀₀ and T₈₀ exhibited the highest values for the total number of propagation buds, with averages 1.4809 million buds/hm² and 1.4779 million buds/hm², respectively in two years, both significantly exceeding the 1.3025 million buds/hm² in CK₁. In contrast, there was no significant difference between T₇₀ and CK₁, while T₆₀ had the lowest value of only 1.1705 million buds/hm². T₁₀₀ and T₈₀ showed the highest field propagation multiples of original seedlings, reaching 66.64 and 66.50 times, respectively, followed by T₇₀ and CK₁ with propagation multiples of 59.61 and 58.61 times, respectively, and T₆₀ had the lowest propagation multiple of 52.67. Compared to CK₀ without fertilization, T₁₀₀ and T₈₀ achieved the highest income increase, reaching 58 200 and 58 700 Yuan/hm², respectively, followed by T₇₀ with an income increase of 41 900 Yuan/hm² which was slightly higher than CK₁'s 38 400 yuan/hm²; T₆₀ had the lowest income increase of only 25 100 Yuan/hm². Regarding the fertilizer input-output ratio, T₈₀ had the highest ratio of 1∶21.89, significantly exceeding that of 1∶17.36, while CK₁ had the lowest ratio of 1∶11.45. Among all the fertilization treatments, CK₁ had the lowest utilization rates of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers. Furthermore, T₈₀ boasted the highest fertilizer utilization rates, with 51.57% for nitrogen, 27.37% for phosphorus, and 67.45% for potassium in two-year averages, which was 21.21%, 10.37%, and 23.13% higher than those in CK₁, respectively. In conclusion, for laterite soil with medium fertility, the mulched drip fertigation pattern T₈₀ performed the best in field propagation efficiency and economic benefits for disease-free sugarcane seedlings.