Ratoon management for sustainable sugar cane production
| MSI04P4103 | |
| Ng Kee Kwong, K. F. | |
| Ratoon management for sustainable sugar cane production | |
| Li, Y. R. and Solomon, S. (eds), Sustainable Sugarcane and sugar production technology: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Sustainable sugarcane and sugar production technology, Nanning, Guangxi, China, November 29 to December 2, 2004. Beijing: China Agricultural Press. 769 p. | |
| book chapter | |
| 2004 | |
| p. 136-142 | |
| En | |
| En | |
| In most sugar cane growing countries ratoons contribute a major share to total sugar production. The average yield of sugar cane ratoon compared to the experimental maximum however ranges from 22 to 57 per cent only. Considerable scope therefore exists for improvement in the productivity of ratoon cane. Higher yields of cane and sugar per unit area can be achieved by adopting best agronomic practices. From this perspective, three management practices of particular relevance to ratoon cane, namely trash management, nitrogen (N) fertilization and artificial ripening are reviewed. The practice of green cane harvesting leaves 15 to 20 t ha-1 crop residues for the next ratoon. The benefits of depositing such a large mass of residues on the soil surface are considerable, e.g minimizing soil erosion and N loss from the system. Besides, a reduction in the amount of herbicides used as a result of a better weed control with the trash blanket makes sugar cane production safer to the environment. Though trash-blanketing makes tillage operations more difficult, immobilizes N on account of its wide C:N ratio and broadcasting urea on the surface of the green trash leads to considerable N lost by ammonia volatilization, the drawbacks are far outweighed by the advantages it imparts to the sustainable nature of the production system. In most cane growing countries there is a better response to N by the ratoon crop than by the plant cane. More N should be applied to ratoons to maximize yield of sugar than in plant cane. Though recovery of fertilizer N in aboveground sugar cane is commonly 20-40 per cent of the applied N, direct carry over of fertilizer N from one cane crop to the next is only 2 to 8 per cent of the N applied and is of little value to the subsequent ratoon cane. Where climatic conditions are most often not conducive to ripening, chemicals can be used to enhance sucrose content particularly in the upper portion of cane stalk. Most of the ripeners evaluated in Mauritius (ethrel, glyphosate, asulam, fusilade etc) influenced sucrose content favourably, as well as juice purity within 6 to 12 weeks following application, with the increase in sucrose varying from 15 to 20 per cent. The response depended upon the variety as well as environmental conditions between time of treatment and harvest. The chemicals used are however growth retardants. Consequently the increase in sucrose content after their application to sugar cane is accompanied by a reduced stalk elongation which is reflected in the height and weight of the stalk. Chemical ripeners not only affect cane growth but has a residual effect which may retard tillering in the following ratoon crop thereby reducing its cane yield. The phytotoxic effects encountered have limited the adoption of this practice even if it has been identified to be one of the avenue to increase sugar production. Plant cane represents the starting point for the ratoons. The plant cane and the ratoons must be considered as dependent rather than individual entities and management practices for sustainable productivity should accordingly be planned considering the whole sugar cane crop cycle. The attainment of that higher sustainable productivity in ratoon cane is increasingly being shown to require a multidisciplinary approach where interactions or synergies among the various effects should be integrated. | |
| Sugarcane Trash management nitrogen fertilization artificial ripening multidisciplinary approach | |
| Mauritius | |
| Sugarcane | |
| Cultural operations: General | |
| 2004-12-17 | |
| En | |
| CHEM | |
| CAT | |
| CHEM |