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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Parlier, California » San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center » Water Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #294435
Title: Carbon accumulation in a two year sugarcane rotation in Hawai’i, USA

Author
item Anderson, Raymond - Ray
item Wang, Dong
item Tirado-Corbala, Rebecca
item Ayars, James

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/22/2013
Publication Date: 11/3/2013
Citation: Anderson, R.G., Wang, D., Tirado-Corbala, R., Ayars, J.E. 2013. Carbon accumulation in a two year sugarcane rotation in Hawai’i, USA. Meeting Abstract. Paper No. 327-18.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Sugarcane has been examined as a bioenergy feedstock for producing aviation fuel in the Pacific Basin. Hawaii has been a major producer of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) in the Pacific, with its typical two-year production cycle having some of the highest reported rates of sugar production in the world. While it maximizes sugar production, the two-year rotation has been less studied for total biomass accumulation. We installed two Eddy Covariance systems in contrasting high (“Lee”) and low (“Windy”) elevation sugarcane fields. Mean daily productivity was significantly higher (p=0.015) in Windy than Lee (94.7 vs. 89.5 kg C/hectare/day) after adjusting for differences in tower establishment at the beginning of the cycle and harvest dates. Contrary to our initial expectations, both fields had significant increases (p<0.001) in daily productivity in the 2nd year (12-18 months after planting) compared to the full canopy during the first year of the cycle (7-12 months after planting). Radiation Use Efficiency was similar between both fields from 7-18 months (1.0 g C/MJ net radiation). Differences in net radiation between Windy (3240 MJ/m2) and Lee (3070 MJ/m2) were the largest control of differing daily productivity during the same time periods. The results suggest that the 2 year plant production cycle may produce total biomass exceeding annual sugarcane rotations with ratoon.