Control of sucrose accumulation and ripening of the sugar cane crop
| MSI06P4214 | |
| Mangar, M. | |
| Control of sucrose accumulation and ripening of the sugar cane crop | |
| Thesis, MSc in Crop Science, University of Mauritius, Faculty of Agriculture | |
| thesis | |
| 2006 | |
| 69 p.: 14 tbls, 17 figs, 1 appen. | |
| En | |
| En | |
| With the reduction in the number of mills in the near future, there will be a pressing need for harvesting sugarcane quite early in the harvest season. The problem of early harvest is that immature cane might be sent for milling. One way to cope with this problem is to get varieties that can accumulate optimum sucrose early in the season. Hence, the aim of this project was to follow sucrose accumulation and to help in the production of varieties with high sucrose content early in the season. In this context a trial was carried out at Reduit to assess sucrose accumulation in 16 varieties at three harvest dates. The three harvest dates were mid-May (H1), mid-August (H2) and mid-November (H3). A split-plot design with three replicates was used. The main factor was harvest date and the sub factor was variety. Stalk height and tiller density were assessed during the growth phase together with the quality characters at harvest. It was found that tiller density and stalk height were both dependent on cultivars and harvest dates during the growth phase. At harvest there were no significant differences in stalk density and stalk height among the three harvest dates. Sucrose content was lower in the H1 plots as opposed to the H2 and H3 plots. Significant differences between varieties were found irrespective of harvest dates. The varieties partition biomass to sucrose differently. These differences confirmed that varieties have different ripening patterns and have a strong control over sucrose accumulation and partitioning. Based on these preliminary findings, the identification of varieties with high sucrose accumulation potential especially early in the season is essential. There is a need for finding assessment methods, which can earmark potential varieties although their sucrose content is low at the start of the harvest season. | |
| sugarcane physiology sucrose accumulation ripening maturation biomass sucrose content temperature rainfall solar radiation tiller density brix pol fibre harvest date | |
| Mauritius | |
| Sugarcane: Physiology | |
| Physiology and Development | |
| 2006-10-25 | |
| En | |
| PHYS |