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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Canal Point, Florida » Sugarcane Field Station » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #394685
Research Project: Development of High-Yielding, Stress Tolerant Sugarcane Cultivars Using Agronomic, Genetic, and Molecular Approaches

Location: Sugarcane Field Station

Title: Management of sugarcane harvest date to improve juice quality and profitability based on cultivar flowering characteristics

Author
item Zhao, Duli
item Rounds, Elliott
item ZHU, KAI - Guangxi University
item Aldrin, Michelle

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/12/2022
Publication Date: 11/9/2022
Citation: Zhao, D., Rounds, E.W., Zhu, K., Aldrin, M.A. 2022. Management of sugarcane harvest date to improve juice quality and profitability based on cultivar flowering characteristics. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD. (Abstract). https://doi.org/scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2022am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/141396.

Interpretive Summary: N/A

Technical Abstract: A field experiment was carried out at the USDA-ARS Sugarcane Field Station in 2018-2022 to determine effects of harvest date on yield components for eight commercial cultivars with different flowering behaviors. These cultivars could be grouped early flowering (CP96-1252, HoCP96-540, CP11-1314), late flowering (CP89-2143, CP05-1526, CP11-2248), and no flowering (CP00-1101, CP01-1372). Millable stalks were counted in August and 10-stalk samples were collected in each plot monthly during the harvest season from October through February in plant cane and two ratoon crops. These stalk samples were weighed and milled to determine cane fiber, juice Brix, and POL for estimating yield components and their responses to harvest date. Regrowth traits (side shoot and suckers) were also investigated in February. Results indicated that cultivar, crop cycle, and harvest date significantly affected most yield traits of stalk population, stalk weight, cane yield (TCH), commercial recoverable sucrose (CRS), and sucrose yield (TSH). Stalk population was not associated with flowering behavior. Both TCH and CRS followed the polynomial trends with harvest date. Early flowering cultivars had higher TCH and lower CRS as compared with no-flowering cultivar. The differences among the three flowering groups in TSH were smaller than that in TCH. However, early flowering cultivars had more regrowth than late and non-flowering cultivars, which will make juice quality even poor in the mechanic harvest system. Results from this study can be used to improve knowledge of maturity curves and to optimize harvest date based on flowering behaviors for improving juice quality and profitability.