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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Canal Point, Florida » Sugarcane Field Station » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #112707
Title: RESPONSES OF SUGARCANE PLANTS TO WATER TABLES

Author
item Tai, Peter
item Miller, Jimmy
item Glaz, Barry
item Morris, Dolen

Submitted to: Sugar Y Azucar
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/14/2000
Publication Date: 6/14/2000
Citation: Tai, P.Y., Miller, J.D., Glaz, B.S., Morris, D.R. 2000. Responses of sugarcane plants to water tables. Sugar y Azucar. 95(6):25.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Waterlogging affects sugarcane growth and can cause a significant reduction in productivity. The increased level of waterlogging tolerance is desired under some sugarcane production environments. A two-year study was carried out to assess the responses of physiological and morphological traits to varying depths of water tables on 3 commercial cultivars and 9 cold-tolerant clones. Water tables were maintained at 0, 15, and 30 cm fro the bottom of the can by dripping irrigation three times a day. Tillering, growth rate, plant height, stalk number, stalk diameter, total stalk weight, dry root weight, Brix, sucrose, and purity were measured. The results indicated that clones, water tables, and years affected the performance of all morphological and physiological traits except stalk number, whereas only clones and years influenced the performance of juice traits. The 30-cm water table had the lowest mean performance in all characters compared to the 0- and 15-cm water tables. Cold-tolerant clones did not show superior performance over the commercial clones under the high water table treatment. The information obtained from this study could benefit the development of increased stress tolerance to high water tables in sugarcane through breeding approaches.