Sustaining un-burnt production systems in cool wet environments : SRDC Final report BSS168

Abstract

This project was initiated because the Green Cane Trash Blanket (GCTB) system had been rapidly adopted within tropical districts of the Queensland sugar industry between 1984 and 1990, yet there was minimal adoption in the cool and humid districts in northern NSW. Broad adoption in the tropics was interpreted by the community as a signal that the GCTB system was suitable for the whole of the Australian sugar industry; this was particularly the case in northern NSW where there is a high reliance on the tourist industry, with an little tolerance of the ash and smoke fall-out associated with the burnt-cane system. Additionally this region has a significant non-cane affiliated population, which is also non-sympathetic to the issues associated with the pre-harvest burning of sugarcane.