Enhancing Sugarcane Yield and Sugar Quality through Optimal Application of Polymer-Coated Single Super Phosphate and Irrigation Management

Muhammad Sajid; Muhammad Amjid; Hassan Munir; Mohammad Valipour; Fahd Rasul; Aka Khil; Mashael Daghash Alqahtani; Muhammad Ahmad; Usman Zulfiqar; Rashid Iqbal; Muhammad Fraz Ali; Iqra Ibtahaj

doi:10.3390/plants12193432

Enhancing Sugarcane Yield and Sugar Quality through Optimal Application of Polymer-Coated Single Super Phosphate and Irrigation Management

Plants (Basel). 2023 Sep 29;12(19):3432. doi: 10.3390/plants12193432.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan.
² Department of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver, CO 80217, USA.
³ Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan.
⁵ College of Agronomy, Northwest A & F University, Xianyang 712100, China.
⁶ Department of Botany, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan.

Abstract

The judicious use of crop input is of prime importance for achieving a considerable output with a low-cost input. A two-year field experimentation was executed to assess the effect of varying polymer-coated single super phosphate (SSP) regimes on the yield and quality of sugarcane under differential water regimes. A two-factor study was executed under a randomized complete block design with a split-plot arrangement. The CPF-249 sugarcane variety was planted during the 2019-2020 period and the 2020-2021 period. The experiment consisted of four levels of polymer-coated SSP, i.e., control, 90, 110, and 130 kg ha^-1, and three water regimes, which consisted of a number of irrigations, i.e., 18 irrigations, 15 irrigations, and 12 irrigations. Moreover, the water regimes were kept in the main plot, whereas the polymer-coated supplement was allocated in a subplot and replicated thrice. The data on the yield components and sugar-related traits were recorded during both years of study, and the treatment means were differentiated using an LSD test at a 95% confidence interval. Summating the findings of this study, a significant variation was revealed under the subject levels of both factors. Statistically, a 110 kg ha^-1 polymer-coated SSP dose, along with 18 irrigations, declared the highest millable canes, stripped cane yield, and unstripped cane yield, followed by the 130 kg ha^-1 treatment. Additionally, the highest pol% and cane sugar recovery % were recorded under 12 irrigations along with 130 kg ha^-1 during both years. Similarly, the °Brix value was also significantly affected by 12 irrigations when 110 kg ha^-1 of polymer-coated SSP was used. The unstripped cane yield had a strong positive correlation with the stripped cane yield, millable canes, and the number of internodes. Moreover, the commercial cane sugar % resulted in a strong positive correlation with the pol%, whereas the cane sugar recovery % revealed a strong positive correlation with the pol% and commercial cane sugar %.

Keywords: cane sugar recovery %; irrigation; polymer-coated SSP; sugarcane; yield.

Grants and funding

Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project (number PNURSP2023R355), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.