Possibility of deficit irrigation practices in sugarcane
| MSI99P2776 | |
| Ah Koon, P. D. Ng Cheong, R. Teeluck, M. Ratna, D. Muthy, K. | |
| Possibility of deficit irrigation practices in sugarcane | |
| ISSCT Irrigation Workshop, Townsville, Australia, 15-19 September 1997 | |
| Conference paper | |
| 1997 | |
| En | |
| Long term field studies were condcted on sugar cane (variety R 570) in the sub-humid western part of Mauritius to study the possibilities of deficit irrigation practices in sugarcane. Different irrigation regimes based on Penman potential evapotranspiration and crop factors were applied on a daily basis using a drip irrigation system. The treatments (inlcusive of non-irrigated plots), replicated four times aimed at supplying the full crop water requirement or part of it (1.0 ETc, 0.75 ETc, 0.5 ETc). Cane and sugar yields as well as climate and irrigation data, monitored every year were analysed at the end of a four year period to work out an irrigation strategy that would optimise yields with respect to water availabitity. A linear programming approach was used to simulate the effects of combination of different irrigation regimes on cane and sugar yield. While the agronomic result show a decline in yields with reduced irrigation, the simulation exercise suggests that when irrigation water supply is limited and canot satisfy crop demand, optimum yield is obtained when a larger area is irrigated at 0.5 ETc whereas minimum yield is obtained when the limited water supply is concentrated on a smaller 1.0 ETc, with the rest rainfed. Although not representative of all sugar cane irrigation areas, the results appear to be attractive enough to warrant further studies in view of optimising farmers' revenue in a water limiting situation. | |
| IRRIGATION SUGARCANE DEFICIT IRRIGATION | |
| MAURITIUS | |
| Sugarcane: water use and management | |
| Irrigation | |
| 1997-10-08 | |
| En | |
| LIB | |
| IRRIG |