Harvesting more solar radiation for higher cane productivity
| MSI03P3935 | |
| Nayamuth, A R H Koonjah, S | |
| Harvesting more solar radiation for higher cane productivity | |
| ISSCT Agronomy workshop: Opportunities in sugar cane agronomy to confront the new realities emerging in the 21st century, 21-25 July 2003, MSIRI, Mauritius: Program and Abstracts | |
| Book chapter | |
| 2003 | |
| p. 18 | |
| Reduit: ISSCT and Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute | |
| En | |
| En | |
| Solar radiation is a major limiting factor to cane production in the high altitude areas of Mauritius and closer row spacing has been adopted as a solution compared to decreasing intra-row competition. The latter was assessed through increasing furrow width with varieties having differing canopy characteristics that are directly responsible for light conversion. Field trials were conducted in 2000 and 2001, over two crop seasons for the first trial and in plant cane only for the second. In the first trial, the varieties M 3035/66, M 52/78 and R 579 were planted at a spacing of 1.3 and 1.6 m in furrows 15, 30 and 45 cm wide at the standard commercial planting density (28 000 setts/ha). A second trial included the varieties M 1400/86 and M 52/78 at the same furrow widths spaced 1.6 m at the commercial planting density and double this number. In the first trial, cane yields were variable for both years with the best performance generally obtained with the widest furrow. The overall advantage amounted to 8.5 t/ha (7.4 per cent) in plant cane and 8.0 t/ha (10.3 percent) in first ratoon. Considering the two-year mean results, the widest furrow under M 52/78 and R 579 gave 15 t/ha more cane than the narrowest furrow with a slight increase of 1.4 t/ha only in M 3035/66. Differences could not be clearly attributed to higher radiation interception. In the second trial, increasing furrow width and planting density both led to higher cane yields. On average the widest furrow yielded 7.4 t/ha (14.8 per cent) more than the narrowest, the higher planting density outyielded the commercial practice by 5.1 t/ha (9.8 per cent), and the combination of widest furrow with higher planting density gave 13.5 t/ha (28.8 per cent) more cane than the narrowest furrow at the low planting density. Increased cane yields resulted from higher tiller densities, which intercepted more solar radiation. Apart from improving productivity, decreasing intra-row competition can reduce costs of production through lower weed proliferation and ultimately herbicide usage. | |
| Competition furrow width light interception planting density | |
| Mauritius | |
| Sugarcane: Physiology | |
| Physiology and development | |
| 2003-07-31 | |
| En | |
| MSIRI | |
| LIB | |
| PHYS |