Soil health and nutrient management

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://elibrary2.sugarresearch.com.au/handle/11079/13842

Research outcomes: Soil health is improved with a resulting positive impact on the environment and yield growth. Improved reputation and relationship between industry and environmental groups.

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1999 - 199912010 - 20171

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Root systems

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    Delivering a novel DNA-based diagnostic for root health to the sugar industry: final report 2015/042
    (Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2017) Pierre, J
    Plant root systems play many key roles including nutrients and water uptake, interface with soil microorganisms and resistance to lodging. Unfortunately, as for any other crop, large and systematic studies of sugarcane root systems have always been hampered by the opaque and solid nature of the soil. In recent years, methods for efficient extraction of DNA from soil and for species-specific DNA amplification have been developed. Such tools could be adapted for sugarcane and have the potential to greatly improve root phenotyping and health diagnostic capability in sugarcane. In this report, we present a fast and efficient method for the quantification of live sugarcane root mass in soil samples. First we demonstrated that this test is sensitive and specific to sugarcane. Then we established a universal calibration for the test to convert root DNA quantity to live root mass. Finally we validated our test on field samples and used it to answer the question of the fate of the root system after harvest. There we demonstrated that, two weeks after harvest, the sugarcane roots are still alive. It raises the question of the role that the former root system plays in the performance of the following crop and demonstrates how this test can be used to answer research question or to monitor crop root health.
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    Final report on SRDC project CLW002 (previously CSS02 & CSS2S): The role of root growth and activity in determining sugarcane productivity
    (1999) Magarey, RC; Nable, R; Reghenzani, J; Smith, J; Berthelsen, S; Grace, D; Robertson, M
    When the current project was initiated, poor root growth and activity were widely believed to be a major constraint to sugarcane productivity. However, there was no technology available to assess whether or not root growth and activity were constraining cane productivity. The project was established to examine the relationship between root growth and activity and sugarcane productivity. The strategic information to be generated was expected to provide the basis for estimating the potential value of overcoming poor root growth and/or activity by managing various soil constratints such as soil pathogens, poor soil structure, or low soil fertility. Initially, the objectives of CLW002 were to: quantify the relationship between root system characteristics and crop productivity; assess the methods for measuring root activity as indicators of root system constraints on crop productivity - with particular emphasis on methods that would allow remote assessment of root activity.