Stalk and sucrose yield in response to nitrogen fertilization of sugarcane under reduced tillage

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the agroindustrial production of sugarcane (millable stalks and sucrose yield) after successive nitrogen fertilizations of plant cane and ratoons in a reduced tillage system. The experiment was carried out at Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil, on a Rhodic Eutrustox soil, during four consecutive crop cycles (March 2005 to July 2009). Plant cane treatments consisted of N‑urea levels (control, 40, 80, and 120 kg ha^‑1 N + 120 kg ha^‑1 P₂O₅ and K₂O in furrow application). In the first and second ratoons, the plant cane plots were subdivided in N‑ammonium nitrate treatments (control, 50, 100, and 150 kg ha^‑1 N + 150 kg ha^‑1 K₂O as top dressing over rows). In the third ratoon, N fertilization was leveled to 100 kg ha^‑1 in all plots, including controls, to detect residual effects of previous fertilizations on the last crop’s cycle. Sugarcane ratoon was mechanically harvested. A weighing truck was used to evaluate stalk yield (TCH), and samples were collected in the field for analysis of sugar content (TSH). Increasing N doses and meteorological conditions promote significant responses in TCH and TSH in cane plant and ratoons, in the average and accumulated yield of the consecutive crop cycles.