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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Item Improving the yields of ratoon crops of sugarcane : SRDC Final report BS7S(SRDC, 1992) Chapman, LS; Ferraris, R; Ludlow, MM; Hurney, APThe economics of sugarcane growing improve with the number of ratoon crops which can be grown from a single planting. In Australia, declining yields with increase in the number of ratoons limit a cycle to three to five ratoons, according to district. However, studies by BSES indicate that the most economic strategies involved growing up to six ratoons. If this decline in yield could be reduced, then more ratoons could be obtained from a single planting with the associated economic benefits.Item Overcoming on-farm constraints to productivity and profitability in a wet tropical area(2003) Goodson, M; Thorburn, PThe CCS in the wet tropics has been declining steadily for over three decades, a period in which green cane harvesting-trash blanketing (GCTB) has become standard practice among growers throughout the wet tropics. In the Babinda Mill region, where this situation is most acute, it has been hypothesised that a part of the low CCS problem is due to the effect of GCTB in increasing soil moisture and soil fertility, which aggravates lodging and suckering in the crop and restricts the opportunity for drying crops out. During the 1990’s Babinda growers were assessing alternative management systems to overcome some of these perceived problems associated with trash blanketing. This project aimed to implement best-bet initiatives to overcome problems associated with trash blanketing, and so improve productivity and profitability in a wet tropics environment. The project was directed by stakeholders and conducted using a participative approach. There were four interrelated ‘strands’ of activity undertaken in this project: 1. Liaison and interaction with Babinda growers and the wider industry, achieved through establishment of a Grower Management Group, conducting all trials on farms (as opposed to research stations), distributing regular newsletters and holding regular bus tours and shed meetings to view demonstration sites and discuss trial results. 2. Demonstration of ‘best-bet’ trash management practices (for improved profitability). Trials were established on four farms comparing the impact of raking trash from the stool and/or incorporating it into the soil. 3. Exploration of improved nitrogen fertiliser placement (for improved profitability). Trials were established on two farms comparing different placement of N fertiliser (in the ground or on the trash blanket) and different N carriers (urea and Nitram). 4. Determination of soil and plant nitrogen status in response to different soils and/or management practices. Soil and crop N status were determined in all trials and a survey of amino-N in juice from sugarcane (a good indicator deficiency and over-supply of N to the crop) from all blocks on eight farms in the region. The trash management trial sites consistently failed to demonstrate any advantage of either raking trash from the stool, incorporating trash into the soil, or doing both. Thus the extra cost of purchasing and operating a trash rake is not justified. At one site, in a flood prone area where trash blanketing is impractical, trash burning consistently gave higher yields than trash raking and incorporation. This result suggests that raking and incorporation of trash is economically disadvantageous, in the short term, in these areas. However, damage to the stool during raking caused the lower yields in the raked incorporated treatments at this site and improved methods of raking trash may overcome this problem.Item Genotype selection and management strategies for exploitation of responses to high planting densities : SRDC final report BS137S(1999) Bull, JK; Bull, TAThe objectives of this project were to: evaluate the potential for high density planting (close row spacings) to increase yields over a range of conditions; assess the genetic potential available to exploit higher planting density in the current breeding population; examine alternate row spacing strategies suited to grower farming systems and constraints (including irrigated and dry land); assess the potential ratoon yields from close row crops (by hand harvesting); encourage grower interest and participation in longer term activities to develop procedures and equipment to support close row management systems; analyse the economic cost/benefit from adopting higher planting density.Item Development of a trash rake : SRDC Final report BS144S(1999) Davis, RJ; Chapman, FLObjectives of project were: to evaluate the performance of selected commercial rakes under various field conditions; to assess the ratooning vigour of varieties after raking trash from the stool area; to develop an improved trash rake to remove trash from the stool; to disseminate information derived from this project to the industry via publications and extension programs and enable demonstrations of trash raking.Item Improving the ratooning ability of sugarcane : SRDC Final report BS100S(1996) Chapman, LS; Wilson, JRGood ratooning cultivars has attributes of rapdi canopy development, associated with early development of adequate stalk numbers, for increased interception of light in early growth, an stability of harvested stalk weight to maintaine yields over the ratoon cycle. These conclusions were drawn from Project BS7S conducted at Tully and Mackay for plant crops and two or three ratoons, respectively. This current project had the objective to determine if these attributes were applicable to older ratoon crops grown at Mackay.A concern with the early project was that geno x crop and genotype x year interactions were confounded. In order to overcome this concern, sixth and seventh ratoon crops of rainfed and irrigated cane were grown adjacent to irrigated crops of plant and first ratoons in this project. All three experiments had the same six cultivars known to have differenet ratooning potential. Comparing the sugar yields for plant and first ratoon with sixth and seventh ratoon crops, there were three groups of cultivars with regard to yield: no decline Q124, Q138); slight decline (q87, NCo310); and large decline (Q50, Q68).The good ratooning cultivats achieved production through the attributes established in the early project. Early canopy development was also associated with cultivars which maintained stool production, that is, they did not develop gaps following harvester damage when crops lodged. The gappiness of ratoons of the good ratooning cultivar Q124 was higher than that for Q138 and NCo310, two cultivars which suffered no harvester damage and developed few gaps. Gaps were the sum of distances greater than 0.5 m between stools. Although Q124 developed 20% gaps along the cane row, individual gaps were usually less then 0.75 m and early canopy development was only slightly retarded and the cultivar was able to compensate for this disability. When yield was adjusted for gappiness, sugar production per stool for all cultivars was shown to be relatively constant over the complete crop cycle. This result has significant industry implications for it indicates that yields in ratoon crops can be stabilised if the stool population cane be maintained. Therefore, reducting harvester damage to stools appears to be a key to maintaining production during long ratooning cycles.Returns were calculated for varying crop cycle lengths from plant/fallow to plant/seven ratoons/fallow, assuming the current price of sugar and current costs for fixed, operating and harvesting expenses. Return data followed the trends for yield, and there were three distinct groups of cultivars, namely: Q124, Q138 high; Q87, NCo310 medium; and Q50, Q68 low. The high and medium groups of cultivars had a plateauing of returns with crop cycles between four and seven ratoons, while the low group had plateauing between two and seven ratoons. There were large differences in maximum returns which averaged 1946, 1425 and 628 $/ha for the high, medium and low producing cultivars respectively, for irrigated cane. The newest varieties had the highest returns, indicating that plant breeders have been successful in releasing higher performing cultivars between 1946 and 1994, the period over which these cultivars were first released for commercial production. Irrigated cane gave higher returns than rainfed cane and the new cultivars had larger increases in returns form irrigation that the old cultivars.Item Research Seminar, Bundaberg 2 March 1988(2012) Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations (BSES)Fourth seminar held in Bundaberg focussing on southern canegrowers district. Topics cover research, research funding and extension.Item Improving the yields of ratoon crops of sugarcane : SRDC Final report BS7S (AMENDED)(1993) Chapman, LS; Ferraris, R; Ludlow, MM; Hurney, APThe economics of sugarcane growing improve with the number of ratoon crops which can be grown from a single planting. In Australia, declining yields with increase in the number of ratoons limit a cycle to three to five ratoons, according to district. However, studies by BSES indicate that the most economic strategies involved growing up to six ratoons. If this decline in yield could be reduced, then more ratoons could be obtained from a single planting with the associated economic benefits.