Final report on SRDC project CLW002 (previously CSS02 & CSS2S): The role of root growth and activity in determining sugarcane productivity

Abstract

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.