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27 October 1998 |
Ref 98/253 |
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Cane that remains erect has an 18% higher sugar yield than cane that has fallen over in the canefields, a CSIRO experiment has found.
According to scientists working at the CSIRO's Davies Laboratory in Townsville, the problems with harvesting fallen sugarcane plants, or lodged cane as it is called, are well known. But the effects of lodging on crop growth and the commercial sugar content of cane stalks was an unknown factor.
"Lodging is very common in well grown sugarcane following wind or rain," explained Dr Phillip Jackson.
"This year, lodging was widespread throughout Queensland with the unusually wet conditions experienced. Apart from directly reducing sugar yield, lodging makes harvesting difficult as harvesters cannot remove the tops from the cane before it is cut - this means extra leaves and trash in the cane bins that are sent to the mill, reducing the sugar concentration in harvested cane. This leads to higher transport and milling costs per unit of sugar produced, reducing industry profitability."
And according to Dr Jackson, when lodging occurs, it is usually the better grown cane that lodges first.
"This has tended to cloud the issue over whether lodging has an adverse effect on sugar yield. In fact, lodging is expected by many growers as an indication that their crop has grown well," he said.
These issues led to a Sugar Research and Development Corporation sponsored collaborative research project between CSIRO Tropical Agriculture, CSR Ltd and the CRC for Sustainable Sugar Production in which the effects of lodging on yields and sugar content was investigated in a field experiment in the Tully region.
"One treatment used in these experiments involved the erection of 2 kilometres of bamboo scaffolding to stop the cane from lodging," explained Gurmit Singh, a Ph.D. student who conducted the experiments.
"This allowed a direct comparison between lodged and erect cane growing under exactly the same conditions. Obviously, growers will not be erecting scaffolding in their fields, but the research has shown that genetic or management approaches to stop the cane from lodging would be useful."
Researchers believe it is likely that the effect of lodging differs between different varieties of sugarcane.
Mr Singh and other workers at CSIRO will be conducting further field experiments in the Tully and Burdekin regions next year. Experiments are also planned to be conducted in a new special purpose 'sugarcane' glasshouse which is to be built at the Davies Laboratory next year.
The work on lodging is part of a wider effort in CSIRO and other research organisations to identify the basic limits to higher sugar yields in well managed commercial sugarcane fields.
For further information, contact Mr Gumit Singh or Dr
Phillip Jackson 07 4753 8500
(Australia's largest scientific research organisation)
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