Modeling sugarcane root growth as a function of mechanical and water stress in the soil

• Grant number: 24/05953-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal Investigator: Moacir Tuzzin de Moraes
• Grantee: Luiz Henrique Quecine Grande
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/10573-4 - Center for Carbon Research in Tropical Agriculture (CCARBON), AP.CEPID

Abstract

The root system of the sugarcane crop (Saccharum officinarum), during its elongation process, can be restricted by physical limitations of the soil, especially in compacted areas, culminating in a smaller volume of exploited soil and water restrictions for the plant, especially in conditions of low soil water potential. In this scenario, the structure of the soil is of great importance in mitigating these stresses, notably due to the presence of biopores, derived from root activity in previous crop cycles, which offer channels of low resistance to root growth. The aim of this study is to parameterize the growth of the sugarcane root system in soil samples derived from areas based on regenerative agriculture and conventional cultivation systems, as a function of mechanical and water stresses, as well as the effect of biopores in mitigating these stresses. The study will be based on experimental plots in a Latossolo Vermelho Eutroférrico, located at the Sugarcane Research Center of the Instituto Agronômico de Campinas (IAC), in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo. The long-term experiment, installed since 1998, has a randomized block design with subdivided plots, consisting of two levels of management (conventional and regenerative), in which sugarcane and soybeans are grown in rotation. Samples with preserved and unpreserved soil structure will be taken from each plot at a depth of 0-20 cm in order to cover the spatial variability of the area and make up the laboratory treatments. These will consist of 2 cultivation systems (conventional and regenerative), 2 soil structure conditions (preserved and reconstructed in the laboratory), 5 levels of mechanical stress (density ranges) and 5 levels of water stress (matric tension at 10, 60, 100, 1000 and 5000 hPa), corresponding to 300 soil samples. The analyses are divided between the physical characterization of the soil, with the distribution of pore frequency, soil density and soil resistance to penetration, and the quantification of root parameters. The creation and comparison of models will be based on the rate of root elongation as a function of mechanical and water stresses and the impact of soil structure (presence of biopores). The main expected results are: (I) parameterization of the negative impacts of mechanical and water stresses on sugarcane root growth; and (II) incorporation of the effect of soil structure (presence and continuity of pores and biopores) in mitigating these physical stresses with a consequent higher rate of root elongation.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

GRANDE, LUIZ HENRIQUE QUECINE; DOS SANTOS, JOHN KENNEDY; PEREIRA, MATHEUS BATISTA NERI; DA SILVA, LUCAS HENRIQUE AMARO; MUNIZ, LARISSA FERNANDA; BOLONHEZI, DENIZART; UMBURANAS, RENAN CALDAS; DE MORAES, MOACIR TUZZIN. Modelling sugarcane root elongation in response to mechanical stress as an indicator of soil physical quality. EXPERIMENTAL AGRICULTURE, v. 61, p. 14-pg., 2025-02-20. (24/05953-0, 23/11945-8)