Glyphosate applied at a hormetic dose improves ripening without impairing sugarcane productivity and ratoon sprouting

Author(s)

Silva, Marcelo de Almeida ^[1] ; Veliz, Jose Gerardo Espinoza ^[2] ; Sartori, Maria Marcia Pereira ^[1] ; Santos, Hariane Luiz ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Sao Paulo State Univ, UNESP, Lab Ecophysiol Appl Agr LECA, Sch Agr Sci, Botucatu, SP - Brazil

^[2] Guatemalan Sugarcane Res & Training Ctr CENGICANA, Santa Lucia Cotzumalguap - Guatemala

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Science of The Total Environment; v. 806, n. 2 FEB 1 2022.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

The management of sugarcane ripening is essential to ensuring the supply of high-quality raw material for the sugar-alcohol industry; chemical ripeners are frequently used to accelerate sucrose accumulation in the stalks during harvesting. The potential ripening effect of a low dose of glyphosate was evaluated in sugarcane, along with its impact on productivity and sprouting in the next crop cycle. A field experiment was conducted in 2015 and 2016 using a randomized block design with eight replicates in a split-plot scheme, with the following treatments: (1) control with only water application, (2) glyphosate at a low dose of 1.8 g a.e. ha(-1) (corresponding to 0.005 L ha(-1) of the commercial product (cp)), and (3) glyphosate at the commercially recommended dose for a ripener at 180 g a.e. ha(-1) (corresponding to 0.50 L ha(-1) of the cp) applied at 60, 45, 30, and 15 days before harvest (DBH). The harvest was performed on May 25, 2016 (0 DBH), and a total of five periods were evaluated. This study showed that the application of a hormetic dose of glyphosate to stimulate sugarcane ripening is promising, despite the limited duration of the effect. The application of the hormetic dose (1.8 g a.e. ha(-1)) at 30DBH improved the technological quality of sugarcane in terms of Brix% juice, pol% cane, purity% juice, moisture% cane, reducing sugars, total reducing sugars, and total recoverable sugar. Additionally, it increased pol productivity, and did not affect ratoon sprouting in the subsequent cycle. Thus, this study provides a strategy for ripening management with a low environmental impact for sugarcane producers through a low (hormetic) dose of glyphosate. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/22585-3 - Effect of ripeners on the technological quality, metabolic components, calorific power from trash and residuality products in sugarcane
• Grantee: Marcelo de Almeida Silva
• Support Opportunities: Program for Research on Bioenergy (BIOEN) - Regular Program Grants