The South African sugar industry harvests in excess of 20 million tons of sugarcane annually. More than 90% of this tonnage is currently being harvested manually. During 2002, the South African Sugar Association Experiment Station’s Agricultural Engineering Department conducted a comprehensive cane cutter survey throughout the South African and Swaziland sugar industries. The primary objective ...

Sugarcane stalks that were drought stressed and not stressed were sampled 50 days after applying Fusilade Super (fluazifop-butyl). The stalks were sectioned and analysed for structural (fibre) and soluble (brix) carbohydrates. Levels of sucrose, glucose and fructose were determined by HPLC. The data show that total stalk dry matter was not reduced by fluazifop-butyl, regardless of whether the c...

The tissue culture derived sugarcane var. CoJ 64 plants attained better height, millable cane height and a greater number of live buds to conventionally raised plants. Further, the plants raised in vitro showed 13.2% increase in cane yield and 11.03% sugar recovery as compared to conventionally propagated sugarcane under parallel agronomic practices in the field, advocating suitability of seed ...

The sustainability of land management was assessed for a sugar cane plantation using soil Ž . chemical and physical properties as indicators. The plantation 6000 ha was established in 1979 on a broad alluvial plain and the majority of the soils are classified as Eutric and Mollic Fluvisols Ž . Ž . 73% and Eutric Vertisols 23% . Average annual rainfall is about 2000 mm with a dry season Ž from M...

BACKGROUND Sugar cane internodes can be divided diagonally into four fractions, of which the two innermost ones are the least recalcitrant pith and the moderately accessible pith-rind interface. These fractions differ in enzymatic hydrolyzability due to structural differences. In general, cellulose hydrolysis in plants is hindered by its physical interaction with hemicellulose and lignin. Ligni...

Enhancing energy cane biomass production can increase feedstock supply for lignocellulosic-based ethanol production. This study was conducted at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center (LSU AgCenter) Sugar Research Station in St. Gabriel, LA, from 2013 to 2015 evaluate yield, fiber composition, and nutrient removal rate of harvested different dates. The treatments included two cultiv...

Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni is a perennial herbaceous plant that produces natural low glycemic-index sweeteners alternative to sugar cane. The genetic improvement of needs be investigated increase its productivity. Although this has narrow diversity, through polyploidization may succeed. Meanwhile, genotypic characters tetraploid were previously reported. This study then observed the ph...