Impact of Row Spacing and Some Weed Control Treatments on Growth, Quality and Yield of Sugarcane

Abstract

Two field experiments were carried out at Shandaweel Agricultural Research Station, Sohag Governorate in 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 seasons to study the effect of row spacing of sugarcane and some weed treatments on growth, quality and yield. Sugarcane cultiver Phil.8013 was spring-planted in three row spacings of 80, 100 and 120 cm, and ten weed control treatments were applied: single application of Garlon 90% EC at the rate of 2000 cc/fed as post-emergence; Brominal 24% EC at the rate of 1 l/fed as post-emergence; Bazagran 48% AS at the rate of 1 l/fed, 30 days after planting; Granstar 75% DF at the rate of 8 g/fed as post-emergence, at 30 days after planting. The application of each of the four herbicides was followed by one hand hoeing 30 days from herbicide application; hand hoeing three times at 25, 45 and 65 days after planting (DAP) and unweeded (control). A split plot design with three replications was used. Row spacings were allocated in the main plots, while weed control treatments were randomly distributed in the sub-plots.Results revealed that widening spaces between rows of sugarcane from 80 up to 100 and 120 cm resulted in a significant and gradual increase in dry weight of narrow and broad leaved weeds as well as total weeds/m 2 in both seasons. There was a significant influence of the applied weed treatments on dry weight/m 2 of both narrow and broad-leaved weeds and total weeds/m 2 . The results showed that the most effective treatment in eliminating both narrow and broad-leaved weeds was hand hoeing three times, followed by the application of the used herbicides combined with one hand hoeing, and the application of each herbicide alone.Growing sugarcane in rows spaced at 80-cm apart resulted in a significant increase in stalk height, number of millable canes, cane and sugar yields/fed. The thickest cane stalks were produced from plants grown at 120 cm. Row spacing rows at 100 cm gave the highest values of brix, sucrose, juice purity and sugar recovery percentages. Practicing hand hoeing three times 25, 45 and 65 DAP to get rid of weeds associated with sugarcane plants resulted in the highest values of the studied traits, while the unweeded plots gave the lowest ones. Under the conditions of the present work, growing sugarcane, in rows spaced at 80 or 100 cm and controlling accompanied weeds by manual hoeing three times at 25, 45 and 65 DAP, Brominal + hand hoeing once and/or Garlon + hand hoeing once can be recommended for getting the highest cane and sugar yields/fed. Meanwhile, economic evaluation of the studied factors showed that planting sugarcane in rows of 80-cm apart as well as controlling weeds by applying Brominal herbicide + hand hoeing once or manual hoeing three times gave the highest values of net income and profitability %.

Desenvolvimento do sistema radicular e produtividade da cana-de-açúcar em diferentes espaçamentos

“…Estudos mais recentes, corroboram com resultados anteriormente apresentados, em que El-Shafai et al (2010), avaliando os espaçamentos entrelinhas de 0,80, 1,00 e 1,20 m encontraram um diâmetro de colmo maior nas plantas cultivadas nos espaçamentos mais largos.…”