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The biggest challenge facing in sugar-energy plants is to move towards the biorefinery concept, without threatening the environment and health. Energy cane is the state-of-the-art of smart energy crops to provide suitable whole-raw material to produce upgraded biofuels, dehydrated alcohol for transportation, refined sugar, yeast-fermented alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, silage and high-quality fodder, as well as to cogenerate heat and bioelectricity from burnt lignocellulose. We, accordingly, present fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering algorithm interconnected with principal component analysis (PCA) as powerful exploratory data analysis tool to wisely classify hybrids of energy cane for production of first-generation ethanol and cogeneration of heat and bioelectricity. From the orthogonally-rotated factorial map, fuzzy cluster I aggregated the hybrids VX12-0277, VX12-1191, VX12-1356 and VX12-1658 composed of higher contents of soluble solids and sucrose, and larger productive yields of fermentable sugars. These parameters correlated with the X-axis component referring to technological quality of cane juice. Fuzzy cluster III aggregated the hybrids VX12-0180 and VX12-1022 consisted of higher fiber content. This parameter correlated with the Y-axis component referring to physicochemical quality of lignocellulose. From the PCA-FCM methodology, the conclusion is, therefore, hybrids from fuzzy cluster I prove to be type I energy cane (higher sucrose to fiber ratio) and could serve as energy supply pathways to produce bioethanol, while the hybrids from fuzzy cluster III are type II energy cane (lower sucrose to fiber ratio), denoting potential as higher fiber yield biomass sources to feed cogeneration of heat and bioelectricity in high temperature and pressure furnace-boiler system.

Plant resistance inducers are cost-effective and environmentally pleasing strategies of plant protection to mitigate biotic and abiotic agents threatening food safety and energy security. We, accordingly, present jasmonic acid and k-phosphite as low-cost strategies to enhance productive yield and technological quality of sugarcane crop. Exogenously treatment of the sugarcane variety ‘SP81-3250’ consisted of carrying out foliar application of jasmonic acid at 1, 1.5 and 2 ml L-1 and K-phosphite at 2, 4 and 6 ml L-1 before crop flowering. Interestingly, both systemic phytorregulator and foliar fertilizer at the lowest doses significantly improved contents of total soluble solids and sucrose, as well as productive yield of fermentable sugars. Jasmonic acid could promote growth and development by triggering either non-enzymatic or enzymatic mechanisms in the host self-defense system to support of external stresses, including herbivory by sugarcane-borer. K-phosphite could improve crop performance by not only releasing water-soluble inorganic ions like phosphorus and potash, but also by signaling synthesis of phytoalexins. Purity of cane juice and productivity of stalks sharply decreased, as the doses of the plant-resistance inducers increased. Jasmonic acid and k-phosphite at unbalanced endogenous levels could inhibit physiological ripening and specific enzymatical activity of alkaline invertases and sucrose-phosphate synthase, thereby influencing bioavailability of sucrose. The lower the sucrose content, the poorer the technological quality of sugarcane crop. The conclusion is, therefore, jasmonic acid and K-phosphite at lower doses prove to be effective induced resistance techniques to produce richer feedstock, with potential to produce ethanol fuel and refined sugar in sugar-energy plants.

No cenário atual, os bioestimulantes tem sido estudado em diversas culturas para verificação de possíveis resultados em variáveis referentes ao desenvolvimento vegetal. Com isso, este trabalho objetivou avaliar características agronômicas de plantas de sorgo dupla aptidão submetidas a aplicação de fertilizante com extrato de algas e Azospirillum brasilense via foliar aos 60 dias após a semeadura (DAS). O experimento foi conduzido na Fazenda de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão (FEPE) pertencente à Faculdade de Engenharia do Campus de Ilha Solteira da Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), localizada em Selvíria (MS). Os tratamentos foram constituídos de cinco doses de fertilizante foliar composto com zinco e extrato de algas de Ascophyllum nodosum (0,0; 0,5; 1,0; 1,5 e 2,0 L ha-1) e duas situações (ausência e presença de A. brasilense (estirpe Abv5 e 6, na dose 1,0 L ha-1)), em delineamento blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições cada tratamento. As variáveis analisadas foram altura de plantas, diâmetro de colmo, número de folhas, população final de plantas, matéria seca de plantas inteiras, produtividade de grãos e panículas e relação grão/panícula. A partir da análise estatística, foi visto que as doses de fertilizante com extrato de algas foram distintas para as variáveis matéria seca, produtividade de panículas e relação grão/panícula, onde a testemunha foi superior em relação às demais doses, principalmente para produtividade de grãos na presença de Azospirillum brasilense. Assim, o fertilizante com extrato de algas não proporcionou resultados expressivos nas características agronômicas, porém a aplicação da bactéria promoveu maior produtividade de grãos e de panículas.

The lawn aesthetics is one of the most important aspect, which professionals need to observe. Shading influence on grass development may be harmful to plant physiology,

Drought, heat, and salinity, as well as pests, are stressing agents, which have impressively declined the productivity and quality of sugarcane crop in harsh environments. Our study aimed to examine the effect of various chemical ripeners as alternatives to enhancing the reactiveness of the enzymatic antioxidant system of sugarcane crop. The field experiment consisted of spraying the ingredients, ethephon, ethyl-trinexapac, glyphosate, carboxylic compounds (MTD) and methyl-sulfumeturon on the Brazilian commercial varieties, SP80-1842 and SP80-3280, before flowering stage. The enzymatic assay comprised the monitoring of the rate of degradation of free radical by ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the extract from leaves of 11-month-old plants. Spraying glyphosate at 0.15 L ha−1 with MTD at 1.00 L ha−1 provided the highest activity of CAT, 0.65 µmol H2O2 min−1 mg−1 protein, in variety SP80-1842 Spraying glyphosate at 0.15 L ha−1 with ethephon at 0.33 L ha−1 caused the highest activity of APX, 1.70 nmol ascorbate min−1 mg−1 protein, in variety SP80-3280. The conclusion is, therefore, that mixtures of glyphosate with the insecticide/acaricide, MTD, and with the synthetic ethylene-releasing product, ethephon could help sugarcane crop grow adequately under uncontrollable or unpredictable agroecosystems like marginal lands.

Saccharin sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is a promising energy crop due to the storage of fermentable sugars in the stems, which are easily converted into ethanol. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of the application of phosphorus and Ethephon on the development, productivity of sorghum and technological quality of saccharin sorghum. The experiment was conducted at Teaching and Research Farm, located in Selviria-MS. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with a 5x4 double factorial design, with five doses of phosphorus (0, 40, 80, 120, 160 kg ha-1 P2O5) and four doses of Ethephon (0, 330, 660, 1,320 mL ha-1) with four replicates. The variables analyzed were: plant height, stem diameter, leaf number, stand at 15 and 60 days after Ethephon application (D.A.A), fresh and dry biomass volume and yield. In addition, the following technological variables were evaluated: soluble solids content (BRIX%); sucrose content (POL%); reducing sugars (RS%); total reducing sugars (TRS%); fiber (%); purity (%) and humidity. The doses of P2O5 did not influence the productivity, but increased the stem diameter. Ethephon doses did not influence the yield of sorghum, but improved the technological quality of the extracted juice.

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