- The present area of sugarcane (Saccarum officinarum) is about 13 million ha with a total commercial world production of about 1254.8 million ton/year cane or 55 million ton/year sucrose. (FAOSTAT, 2001).
- Sugarcane originated in Asia, probably in New Guinea.
- Most of the rainfed and irrigated commercial sugarcane is grown between 35°N and S of the equator.
- The crop flourishes under a long, warm growing season with a high incidence of radiation and adequate moisture, followed by a dry, sunny and fairly cool but frost-free ripening and harvesting period.
- Optimum temperature for sprouting (germination) of stem cuttings is 32 to 38°C.
- Optimum growth is achieved with mean daily temperatures between 22 and 30°C.
- Minimum temperature for active growth is approximately 20°C.
- For ripening, however, relatively lower temperatures in the range of 20 to 10°C are desirable, since this has a noticeable influence on the reduction of vegetative growth rate and the enrichment of sucrose in the cane.
- A long growing season is essential for high yields.
- The normal length of the total growing period varies between 9 months with harvest before winter frost to 24 months in Hawaii, but it is generally 15 to 16 months.
- Plant (first) crop is normally followed by 2 to 4 ratoon crops, and in certain cases up to a maximum of 8 crops are taken, each taking about 1 year to mature.
- Growth of the stool is slow at first, gradually increasing until the maximum growth rate is reached after which growth slows down as the cane begins to ripen and mature.
- The flowering of sugarcane is controlled by daylength, but it is also influenced by water and nitrogen supply.
- Flowering has a progressive deleterious effect on sucrose content.Normally, therefore, flowering is prevented or non-flowering varieties are used.
- Sugarcane does not require a special type of soil.
- Best soils are those that are more than 1 m deep but deep rooting to a depth of up to 5 m is possible.
- The soil should preferably be well-aerated (after heavy rain the pore space filled with air > 10 to 12 percent) and have a total available water content of 15 percent or more.
- When there is a groundwater table it should be more than 1.5 to 2.0 m below the surface.
- The optimum soil pH is about 6.5 but sugarcane will grow in soils with pH in the range of 5 to 8.5
- Sugarcane has high nitrogen and potassium needs and relatively low phosphate requirements, or 100 to 200 kg/ha N, 20 to 90 kg/ha P and 125 to 160 kg/ha K for a yield of 100 ton/ha cane, but application rates are sometimes higher.
- At maturity, the nitrogen content of the soil must be as low as possible for a good sugar recovery, particularly where the ripening period is moist and warm.
- Row spacing varies usually between 1.1 and 1.4 m; number of sets per ha depends on the number of buds per set and may vary between 21000 and 35000.
- Sugarcane is moderately sensitive to salinity and decrease in crop yield due to increasing salinity is: 0% at ECe 1.7 mmhos/cm, 10% at 3.3, 25% at 6.0, 50% at 10.4 and 100% at ECe 18.6 mmhos / cm.
The graph below depicts the crop stages of sugarcane, and the table summarises the main crop coefficients used for water management.
| Stages of Development | Plant date | Region |
---|
Crop characteristic | Initial | Crop Development | Mid-season | Late | Total | | |
Stage length, days Sugarcane-virgin
Sugarcane-ratoon | 35 50 75 25 30 35 | 60 70 105 70 50 105 | 190 220 330 135 180 210 | 120 140 210 50 60 70 | 405 480 720 280 320 420 | | Low Latitudes Tropics Hawaii, USA Low Latitudes Tropics Hawaii, USA |
Depletion Coefficient, p: | – | – | – | – | 0.65 | | |
Root Depth, m | – | – | – | – | 1.5 | | |
Crop Coefficient,Kc | 0.4 | >> | 1.25 | 0.75 | – | | |
Yield Response Factor, Ky
| 0.75 | – | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.2 | | |