Sugarcane Straw Removal: Implications to Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Demand in Brazil

Cherubin, Maurício Roberto; Lisboa, Izaías Pinheiro; Silva, Aijânio G.B.; Varanda, Letícia L.; Bordonal, Ricardo O.; Carvalho, João Luís Nunes; Otto, Rafael; Pavinato, Paulo Sérgio; Soltangheisi, Amin; Cerri, Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino

doi:10.1007/s12155-019-10021-w

Cited by 45 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…Top leaves (younger) add 5.7 kg P/ha which 70% (4 kg P/ha) of it is immediately plant available (Cherubin et al, ). Bottom leaves (older) add 1.78 kg P/ha which 50% (0.9 kg P/ha) of it is immediately plant available (Cherubin et al, ). Overall, we can say that from 7.5 kg P/ha added by straw to the soil, 4.9 kg P/ha is immediately plant available.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving phosphorus sustainability of sugarcane production in Brazil

et al. 2019

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Phosphorus (P) use in global food and bioenergy production needs to become more efficient and sustainable to reduce environmental impacts and conserve a finite and critical resource (Carpenter & Bennett, Environmental Research Letters, 2011, 6, 014009; Springmann et al., Nature, 2018, 562, 519). Sugarcane is one crop with a large P footprint because production is centered on P‐fixing soils with low P availability (Roy et al., Nature Plants, 2016, 2, 16043; Withers et al., Scientific Reports, 2018, 8, 2537). As global demand for processed sugar and bioethanol continues to increase, we advocate that improving P efficiency could become a key sustainability goal for the sugarcane industry. Here, we applied the 5R global P stewardship framework (Withers et al., Ambio, 2015, 44, 193) to identify more sustainable options to manage P in Brazilian sugarcane production. We show that current inputs of P fertilizer to the current crop area could be reduced by over 305 Gg, or 63%, over the next three decades by reducing unnecessary P fertilizer use, better utilization of recyclable bioresources and redesigning recommendation systems. Adoption of these 5R options would save the sugarcane industry in Brazil 528 US$ million and help safeguard global food and energy security.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving phosphorus sustainability of sugarcane production in Brazil

et al. 2019

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“…Considering sugarcane, the third most cultivated crop in Brazil, the inorganic P fertiliser use is typically 50–80 kg P ha −1 at crop establishment and averages 35 kg P ha −1 yr −1 overall 31 . Average P export in harvested sugar stalks is only 11 kg P ha −1 per year 43 . The recovery of added P fertiliser (~ 31%) leaves large amounts of crop residues in the soil to build up legacy P. We estimated that the legacy P accumulated in the soil since the crop was first cultivated is now > 500 kg ha −1 in most of areas of production (Supplementary Figure S1), and this legacy P could be better utilized to improve the resilience of the sugarcane crop to future P shocks 14 , 16 .…”

Section: Soil Legacy P In Brazilian Croplandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revealing soil legacy phosphorus to promote sustainable agriculture in Brazil

Pavinato¹,

Cherubin²,

Soltangheisi³

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Exploiting native soil phosphorus (P) and the large reservoirs of residual P accumulated over decades of cultivation, namely “legacy P”, has great potential to overcome the high demand of P fertilisers in Brazilian cropping systems. Long-term field experiments have shown that a large proportion (> 70%) of the surplus P added via fertilisers remains in the soil, mainly in forms not readily available to crops. An important issue is if the amount of legacy P mobilized from soil is sufficient for the crop nutritional demand and over how long this stored soil P can be effectively ‘mined’ by crops in a profitable way. Here we mapped the spatial–temporal distribution of legacy P over the past 50 years, and discussed possible agricultural practices that could increase soil legacy P usage by plants in Brazil. Mineral fertiliser and manure applications have resulted in ~ 33.4 Tg of legacy P accumulated in the agricultural soils from 1967 to 2016, with a current annual surplus rate of 1.6 Tg. Following this same rate, soil legacy P may reach up to 106.5 Tg by 2050. Agricultural management practices to enhance soil legacy P usage by crops includes increasing soil pH by liming, crop rotation, double-cropping, inter-season cover crops, no-tillage system and use of modern fertilisers, in addition to more efficient crop varieties and inoculation with P solubilising microorganisms. The adoption of these practices could increase the use efficiency of P, substantially reducing the new input of fertilisers and thus save up to 31.8 Tg of P fertiliser use (US$ 20.8 billion) in the coming decades. Therefore, exploring soil legacy P is imperative to reduce the demand for mineral fertilisers while promoting long-term P sustainability in Brazil.

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“…In view thereof, conservation-focused agricultural practices have to be implemented to avoid soil and water losses by erosion, avoid soil drying and high temperatures that affect the microbial biomass activity, maintain and/ or increase the nutrient use efficiency, nutrient cycling, carbon input in the soil, and increasing the soil production potential in the long term. In sugarcane fields, mainly where mechanical management is used, the no-tillage (direct planting) system can be implemented, with planting under the trash of a previous unburned ratoon crop and stubble of crops or green manure residues (Bolonhezi;Gonçalves, 2015;Canellas et al, 2007;Cherubin et al, 2019;Santos Júnior et al, 2015;Signor et al, 2016;Tavares et al, 2010;Oliveira et al, 2017;Tenelli et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sugarcane sector has been increased in mechanical harvesting without prior burning, resulting in large amount of sugarcane straw on the soil surface and increase in C and N stocks (Cerri et al, 2011;Oliveira et al, 2017;Cherubin et al, 2019;Tenelli et al, 2019). With objective to quantify tillage intensity and straw removal levels on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, Tenelli et al (2019) indicate that a conversion from conventional tillage to reduced tillage system without straw removal would result in SOC gains of 0.31 and 0.21 Mg ha -1 years -1 in the 0-10 cm from the sandy loam and clayey soil, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An important factor of the soil-plant interactions of a production system analyzed in this study is the nitrogen management. The reason is that, apart from the high N demand of the crop, nitrogen also plays a key role in the decomposition of plant residues and carbon humification in the soil, resulting in an effective increase in SOM (Cherubin et al, 2019;Potrich et al, 2014;Yamaguchi et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alternative sugarcane production for conservation of sandy soils: sugarcane straw, intercropping and nitrogen

et al. 2020

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The expansion of sugarcane cultivation in the Center-South region of Brazil has led to the use of, mainly, areas with low-yielding sandy soils. In this context, the objectives of this study were to evaluate the maintenance of the sugarcane straw, Brachiaria grass intercropping in sugarcane fields and nitrogen fertilization and on sandy soils in the state of Paraná. The field experiment was installed in the Paranavaí-PR city, at a unit of the Interuniversity Network for the Development of the Sugarcane Sector (RIDESA). The soil was classified as Latossolo Vermelho-amarelo distrófico. The treatments in the plant cane stage, consisting of four nitrogen rates (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg ha-1) and monoculture or Brachiaria grass intercropping in sugarcane fields were arranged in a 4x2 factorial design. At plant cane harvest, the effect of unremoved straw was included as a new factor to be evaluated in the ratoon crops. The treatments in the ratoon crops were arranged in a 4x2x2 factorial design, consisting of four nitrogen rates (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg ha-1), monoculture or Brachiaria grass intercropping in sugarcane fields and the presence or removal sugarcane straw. The sugarcane straw on soil surface can increase the agronomic development of sugarcane and, the other hands, Brachiaria grass intercropping in sugarcane fields can reduce. Sugarcane was responsive to N rates and, in the highest rates, compensated the sugarcane straw absence and reduced Brachiaria grass intercropping competition.

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Sugarcane Straw Removal: Implications to Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Demand in Brazil

Cited by 45 publications

References 54 publications

Improving phosphorus sustainability of sugarcane production in Brazil

Improving phosphorus sustainability of sugarcane production in Brazil

Revealing soil legacy phosphorus to promote sustainable agriculture in Brazil

Alternative sugarcane production for conservation of sandy soils: sugarcane straw, intercropping and nitrogen

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