Completed projects and reports

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Sugar Research Australia, Sugar Research Development Corporation and BSES reports from completed research projects and papers.

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Increased profitability and water use efficiency through best use of limited water under supplementary irrigation : SRDC Final report CSE001
(SRDC, 2005) Inman-Bamber, NG
The objectives of this project towards increased profitability and water use efficiency was to:
Irrigation risk management strategies to reduce water use and maximize profitability; a paradigm shift in performance to $ per unit of water : Final report CTA038
(SRDC, 2003) Inman-Bamber, NG
The Australian sugar industry is predisposed to maximize the benefits of irrigation because of its geographic and climatic location. However mistakes of older irrigation schemes elsewhere in Australia, need to be avoided. Performance criteria such as $ produced per unit of water used 'which have the long term aim of very closely matching plant water use with water applied, will be the single most important factor ensuring longevity of irrigation areas' (Meyer, 1997). Matching plant water use and irrigation, requires knowledge of climatic demand for water, soil water supply, and crop response to water deficits.
Improved environmental outcomes and profitability through innovative management of nitrogen SRDC research project CSE011 final report
(2008) Thorburn, P; Webster, T; Biggs, J; Biggs. I; Park, S
Nitrogen (N) fertiliser additions are an important contributor to productivity and profitability in intensive farming systems, including sugarcane production. However, applying N increases losses of N to the environment, and so all intensive agricultural industries face the challenge of maintaining productivity while minimising environmental impacts of N fertiliser use. This challenge has become particularly important for sugarcane production in Australia because community concern grows over the impact of N on the health of the Great Barrier Reef and sugarcane production has the largest use of N fertiliser in the region. It has been suggested that replacing the N lost from a crop through harvested cane and environmental losses will better align N fertiliser applications to the actual needs of sugarcane crops and the other potential sources of N available to the crop, and so improve the financial and environmental sustainability of the Australian sugarcane industry. In this project we tested and further developed an innovative N fertiliser management system, the N Replacement (NR) system.
Implementation of irrigation practices for profitable resource efficient sugarcane production in the Ord : Final report CSE007
(SRDC, 2006) Inman-Bamber, NG
Sugarcane is currently the major crop in the Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) in terms of area, occupying approximately 4000 hectares or a third of the irrigable area. It is also possible that further expansion could occur soon within the Ord Stage 2 area. The new industry is continuing to develop guidelines for and to initiate implementation of best management practice, to ensure the development of a profitable and sustainable industry. This project contributed to the provision of an extension service which is critical in assisting the industry in this development. Irrigation water application in excess of 30 ML ha-1 yr-1 was common commercial practice when sugarcane production commenced in 1995. High irrigation application not only impacted on profitability but also contributed to rising water tables and land degradation. Consequently this project aimed to build capacity in the community to save water and labour and to reduce rising water tables.
Review of nitrogen fertiliser research in the Australian sugar industry
(2004) Thorburn, P
The management of nitrogen (N) fertiliser is important to the Australian sugar industry, as it is an important nutrient for sugarcane production. However, over application results in reduced profitability and sugar quality, and results in high concentrations of N in soils and water of sugarcane growing areas. An extensive review of current and past research on N fertiliser management in the Australian sugar industry was undertaken to identify possible improvements in N fertiliser management and establish priorities for future research into sustainable management of N fertiliser. The Australian sugar industry has a history of high N fertiliser usage, with applications increasing from the 1960s to the late 1990s. However, industry average sugarcane production has not kept pace with N fertiliser applications, resulting in a steady increase in N fertiliser applied per ton of sugarcane harvested. Historical and recently developed N management strategies rely on matching N applications to the predicted/expected yield of the forthcoming crop. Over-application of N fertiliser is a rational reaction by growers to uncertainty about the size of the coming crop and the long-term impact of N fertiliser on profitability – significant over-fertilisation reduces profits much less than significant under fertilisation. We suggest that past and current N fertiliser management strategies have not adequately accounted for these attitudes, and the resultant longer-term implications for soil and water quality and environmental impacts in sugarcane catchments. While long-term under application of N fertiliser undoubtedly reduces profitability, there is considerable evidence to show that greatly reducing N fertiliser applications for a single crop will not significantly reduce sugarcane production. Thus, the short-term risk of crop yields limited by N deficits is possibly much lower than generally appreciated. If this is so, a new philosophy of N fertiliser management can be developed that remove the uncertainties that drive growers to over-apply N, and so allow closer matching of N inputs to N outputs from a sugarcane system. Rather than aiming to fertilise the coming crop, it may only necessary to replace the N lost from the previous crop, the majority of which is in harvested cane and therefore be easily estimated. Over the past decade, there have been significant advances in our ability to simulate N (and carbon) dynamics in sugarcane production systems. We drew upon these advances to undertake a ‘desktop’ examination of this new ‘replacement’ N management strategy. Three N management scenarios were simulated: (1) the ‘replacement’ strategy, (2) the current recommended strategy and (3) the average amounts of N applied in the industry (i.e., 30 % greater than those recommended). The replacement strategy had similar productivity, greater profitability and lower environmental N losses, whether we simulated potential crop production or a more realistic level of production (resulting from the impact of pests, diseases, lodging, stool damage, etc.). Moreover, these advantages were greater in the simulations of realistic yields. The ‘replacement’ strategy is an evidence based, transparent and defensible N management strategy, all attributes that are important for the sugar industry to maintain self-regulation of N fertiliser management. We suggest that this strategy warrants further testing, through both simulation and field experiments.
Evaluating the potential for improved sugar yields by assessing the climatic and soil constraints to production in southern cane-growing districts
(1999) Muchow, RC; Hughes, RM; Horan, HL
This project conducted strategic research to better understand the processes of yield accumulation in low temperature NSW environments and to identify limits to yield. The fundamental knowledge gained in this project can be used to assess yield limitations and the scope for yield improvement. In addition, the findings are a pre-requisite to the design of management and genetic improvement strategies to boost production in southern sugarcane growing environments. An additional spin-off of this project is a better functional basis of the processes of yield accumulation encapsulated in the APSIM Sugarcane systems model to allow extrapolation of the findings more broadly across the sugar industry. An analysis framework was used to express sucrose yield in terms of biomass accumulation and the proportion on biomass present as sucrose. Crop biomass was analysed in terms of radiation capture and utilisation. Partitioning was examined in terms of the proportion of crop biomass present as stalk and the stalk sucrose concentration on a dry matter basis. Crops growing under "potential yield" conditions were analysed and compared to those growing under "commercial yield conditions".
Pathways to exploiting enhanced photosynthetic efficiency for higher sucrose and biomass yield
(2011) Inman-Bamber, NG
Australia has one of the highest commercial cane sugar (CCS) levels in the world but unfortunately CCS appears to have plateaud at about 14% of fresh cane weight over the past 20 years. Up to now in breeding programs, increased fibre has been considered to have negative economic impacts because of adverse effects on sugar extraction and milling rate. It is possible that high fibre genotypes can produce higher biomass yields than high sucrose types because high sucrose content in the stalk may feedback negatively on photosynthesis either through end-product suppression or through sugar signalling compounds. This is now an assumption which is gaining acceptance through recent publications. Prior to this project this assumption had not been tested using high fibre and high sucrose clones. Feedback inhibition is also suspected to be the cause of the ‘reduced growth phenomenon’, a term applied to lower than expected biomass accumulation after a certain stage in crop development. This project aimed to establish the role of cane stalk sucrose in feedback inhibition of photosynthesis in order to reveal existing limitations to increasing sucrose content and biomass yield.
Overcoming constraints to high yield and CCS in large and lodged cane crops
(2001) Chapman, SC; Jackson, PA; Lawn, RJ
Past research indicates that large sugarcane crops (that usually also happen to be lodged) experience a slowdown in growth during winter, well before harvest (Muchow et al. 1996). The project examined factors affecting the growth of crops in both the dry (irrigated) and wet tropics and aimed to interpret and explain the effects of the identified factors on net growth and death processes as well as on the stalk and sucker dynamics, cane yield and CCS. Treatments included installation of bamboo scaffolding to prevent crop lodging, and a late ratooning of the crop so that a physiologically young crop would be growing into the winter ripening period. Experiments were conducted over two seasons (1997-1998 & 1998-1999) in commercial fields in areas where large crops may experience substantial lodging under different environmental conditions (Burdekin and Tully). Four or five sequential harvests were taken to determine if and when growth slowdown occurred and to separate the effects of crop age, season and lodging. By installing scaffolding to prevent lodging, we eliminated the growth ‘slowdown’ in three experiments to confirm that lodging and stalk death is part of the explanation. In both the wet and dry (irrigated) tropics, lodging of sugarcane significantly decreased both cane yield and fresh commercial cane sugar content (CCS). Prevention of lodging increased fresh cane yield by 11 - 15 %, CCS by 3 - 12 % and sugar yield by 15 - 35 % at the final harvest in August/September. The rate of increase in CCS in lodged cane was reduced following lodging, although CCS recovered by harvest to be similar to that of erect cane. While death of stalks was confirmed as a major component of the effect of lodging there was also a reduced weight and sugar content of live stalks. Dead and rat damaged stalks had CCS levels that were regularly less than 50% of sound live stalks. In the dry tropics, where cane is irrigated and grows under high radiation, sugar yield was 40 t/ha with scaffolding installed. The increased yield (compared to 35 t/ha in lodged cane) was due to both the survival of an extra 0.8 stalks/m2 and increased accumulation of sugar in live stalks. These experimental results have been published in two conference papers and in an upcoming issue of the Australian Journal of Agricultural Research (early 2003).
Adopting systems approaches to water and nutrient management for future cane production in the Burdekin SRDC Research Project CSE020 final report
(2008) Thorburn, P
There is concern about environmental impacts of cropping in catchments of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, especially losses of nitrogen (N) and herbicides from cropping systems. Sugarcane production in the Burdekin region in the dry tropics stands out from other crops/regions because, (1) it is fully irrigated, which may enhance the losses of any chemicals from farms, and (2) it has the highest N fertiliser application rates of any sugarcane producing region in Australia. There are few measurements of N and/or herbicide losses from sugarcane production, especially fully irrigated production. More complete information is needed to evaluate, develop and underpin the adoption of management practices to reduce environmental impacts of sugarcane production. Four streams of work were undertaken to provide this information: Monitoring water quality leaving sugarcane farms. Demonstrating water quality and productivity benefits of farm management practices. Harnessing the information from these two components to describe and classify management practice systems typical of past, current and future ‘best practice’, and estimate the water quality, productivity and economic benefits of these systems. Communicating results of these activities widely within and beyond the region. Water, N and herbicide losses were measured at three sites in different parts of the Burdekin region, covering a range of soil types and irrigation managements. The experimental data were then used to parameterise the APSIM-Sugarcane cropping systems model, and then used to infill missing data and develop complete water and N balances for each of the three crops measured at the sites. N losses in runoff were relatively small, being less than 10 kg N ha-1 crop-1. Herbicide losses were similar to those measured previously. More N was lost via deep drainage than runoff at all sites, even those with slowly permeable soils. The results were consistent with the known ground water nitrate contamination issues in the region.
Efficient use of water resources in sugar production; optimising the use of limited water under supplementary irrigation
(2000) Inman-Bamber, NG; Robertson, MJ; Muchow, RC; Wood, AW; Wegener, MK; Spillman, MF
About 60% of sugar produced in Australia depends on irrigation. In some regions, production would be impossible without irrigation; in others, irrigation is used to supplement rainfall. It can improve production and reduce risks in the more variable rainfall environments. The whole subject of supplementary irrigation has taken on a new focus in recent years as termsof- trade for cane growers continue to deteriorate, and as pressure mounts for more efficient management of a scarce national resource. Best practice with limited water, however, depends on complex biophysical and economic factors as well as sensitive off-site impacts. From a biophysical point of view, questions arise as to the probability of achieving the desired irrigation responses in the various regions and seasons, and the extent to which this is affected by crop water requirements at various stages and by variety and soil type. From a management point of view, the questions concern source of the water, the amounts available, and the best crop type and block on which to apply it. Finally, from an economic point of view, the questions concern the interactions between the above factors and the size of the investment required, the likely price of cane, and the probability of achieving sustained profitability from the investment during its lifetime. The aim of this project, therefore, was to address this complexity by developing and applying a generic methodology for assessing the payoffs of supplementary irrigation, taking account of the above factors.

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