• DOI:10.2134/AGRONJ2004.0184
• Corpus ID: 84779881

Sugarcane Yield, Sugarcane Quality, and Soil Variability in Louisiana

@article{Johnson2005SugarcaneYS,
  title={Sugarcane Yield, Sugarcane Quality, and Soil Variability in Louisiana},
  author={Richard M. Johnson and Edward P. Richard},
  journal={Agronomy Journal},
  year={2005},
  volume={97},
  pages={760-771}
}

• Richard M. Johnson, E. Richard
• Published 1 May 2005
• Environmental Science
• Agronomy Journal

water quality. The author indicated that PA could have a significant positive impact on environmental quality, This study was conducted to determine the extent of temporal and provided that the necessary research is conducted at the spatial variability present in commercially cultivated sugarcane (interspecific hybrids of Saccharum spp. cv. LCP 85-384) grown in South field, farm, and watershed scales. Louisiana. Sugarcane fields at two locations were harvested for three Despite these potential advantages, adoption of PA consecutive years (2001–2003) in a grid pattern with a single-row, techniques by the Louisiana agricultural community is chopper harvester and a field transport wagon equipped with elec- very limited. This may be due, in part, to a lack of PA tronic load sensors to determine cane yields. Sugar yield and quality research in the state, particularly in sugarcane, the state’s were determined from a random cane sample from each grid cell, and most valuable row crop commodity. To date, only one soil samples were collected after harvest from each grid cell (2002– Louisiana PA study in sugarcane has been reported in 2004). At each location, the majority of soil properties exhibited thescientificliteraturetotheauthors’knowledge(Johnnonnormal distributions with coefficients of variation ranging from 1 son and Richard, 2003). In this preliminary, 1-yr study, to 56% over all years and locations, and all soil properties were spathe authors used yield mapping to determine the extent tially correlated with the range varying from 26 to 241 m. Cane and sugar yields and sugar quality parameters at both locations were of variability in sugarcane yield and to relate the obfound to exhibit nonnormal distributions in selected years, and the served variability to variation in soil properties. The coefficients of variation ranged from 5 to 20% over all years and authorsreportedthatsugarcaneexpressedahighdegree locations. Cane and sugar yields and quality parameters were spatially of variability at one location in Terrebonne parish with correlated with a range varying from 26 to 187 m with the exception gross cane yields ranging from 36 to 134 Mg ha 1 . Theoof theoretically recoverable sugar and fiber at one location in 2003. retically recoverable sugar (TRS) ranged from 51 to Soil S and Ca/Mg ratio were correlated to all sugar parameters at one 104 kg Mg 1 and sugar yields from 2640 to 14 570 kg location, and soil organic matter and soil buffer pH were correlated to ha 1 at the same site. At another site in Iberia parish, all sugar parameters at the second location. These data would indicate gross cane yields ranged from 31 to 114 Mg ha 1