Growth of pre-sprouted sugarcane seedlings submitted to supplementary lighting

Abstract

Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of sugarcane in the world, and the sugar and ethanol sector has invested in the development of new technologies and methods of planting to meet the market demand. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of sugarcane at the acclimation phase and under field conditions, from pre-sprouted seedlings exposed to supplementary lighting, through light-emitting diode, in the period of acclimation in a greenhouse. The experiment was carried out in Carpina, PE, Brazil, from January to September 2017. The experimental plots were composed of pre-sprouted seedlings acclimated in greenhouse, exposed to the supplementary lighting systems, 90% Red + 10% Blue (R:B 90/10), 80% Red + 20% Blue (R:B 80/20), 70% Red + 30% Blue (R:B 70/30) and a control. The evaluation of seedling growth was performed through the measurement of biometric indicators: plant height (cm); stem length (cm); stem diameter (cm) and number of tillers. The biometric indicators showed no significant differences, but plants under lighting systems with a greater proportion of the red wavelength (R:B 80/20 and R:B 90/10) showed higher percentage of survival in the field.

Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria Enhance Survival, Growth, and Nutritional Content of Sugarcane Propagated through Pre-Sprouted Seedlings under Water Deficit

“…The increased plant survival promoted by PGPB inoculation at 30 DAT suggests that the inoculated plants were influenced by the biological mechanisms already reported by B. licheniformis [35,61] and B. subtilis [38,[62][63][64][65][66], such as the production of phytohormones, siderophores, and exopolysaccharides, biofertilization, and remediation of abiotic stresses. In the absence of inoculation, PSS survival of 82.4% corroborates with the results found by Almeida Neto et al [67]. Although no other studies evaluate PSS survival in the field under the use of microorganisms, studies reported the PGPB action in improving rooting and nutritional aspects [37,[68][69][70][71].…”

Microclimate and Irrigation Affect the Growth Dynamics of Sugarcane in a Semiarid Environment

“…The ability of sugarcane to intercept radiation, i.e. fPARi, varies according to the variety (Almeida Neto et al, 2020) due to the influence of the leaf area index (Ferreira Júnior et al, 2014;Elli et al, 2016) and is essential for increasing crop yield (Brunini & Turco, 2016). In the present study, fPARi had a strong influence on the growth dynamics of the crop.…”

Dry Rot Caused by the Complex Colletotrichum falcatum and Thielaviopsis paradoxa Emerges as a Key Stalk Disorder in Newly Expanded Sugarcane Plantations from Northwestern São Paulo, Brazil

“…With the goal of proposing a sustainable pest management program to ensure good practices [54] that reduce the impacts of all three stalk-associated disorders on regional sugarcane production, the most effective strategy to implement is the improvement in the general health quality of the seedlings produced in northwestern São Paulo. Nevertheless, no policy exists that enforces minimum plant health standards for sugarcane nurseries, in which locations healthy seedlings can be produced, marketed, and distributed in attendance to the demands of these vast new-frontier cropping areas [2,7,55]. Such nurseries ought to be established by planting thermally, chemically or biologically treated sugarcane cuts for managing, in particular, the stalk-borne inocula from C. falcatum and T. paradoxa, as well as spittlebug infestation [2,17,31,54].…”