The economic advantage of reduced tillage planting of sugarcane in Australia

Abstract

Land preparation for planting sugarcane is a major cost to growers. Currently growers may undertake up to eight tillage passes to prepare a seedbed for planting. However, this number of passes is considerably less than that practised thirty years ago. Good crop establishment is necessary to ensure yield and ratoon longevity for the next crop cycle. However, it was hypothesised that the number of tillage passes could be reduced without compromising crop performance and would offer considerable savings in crop establishment costs.