NUTRIENT EXTRACTION AND EXPORT BY FULLY IRRIGATED SUGARCANE VARIETIES

A review of technology research supporting the Brazilian sugaralcohol sector shows that only sporadic studies with irrigated sugarcane have been developed to investigate nutritional requirements. In this context, the objective of this study was to quantify the capacity of extraction and export of N, P, K, Ca, and Mg as well as the nutritional requirement for the production of one ton of stalk per hectare (TCH) in the plant cane cycle of 11 sugarcane varieties (SP79-1011, RB813804, RB863129, RB872552, RB943365, RB72454, RB763710, SP78-4764, SP81-3250, RB867515, and RB92579) grown under full irrigation. The research was conducted under field conditions in the municipality of Carpina, PE, in the 2006/2007 growing season. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design with 11 treatments and four replications. Nutrient extraction and export as well as nutritional requirements of the shoot components of the plants were evaluated 360 days after planting. The mean nutrient accumulation in shoots was 179, 25, 325, 226, and 87 kg ha(-1) of N, P, K, Ca, and Mg, respectively. The average export of N, P, K, Ca, and Mg via stalks of the irrigated varieties was 92, 15, 188, 187, and 66 kg ha(-1), corresponding, respectively, to 51, 60, 58, 83, and 76% of the whole nutrient amount taken up by the cane plant. The extracted nutrient amounts were highest by the following varieties: RB92579 and SP81-3250 for N; RB813804, RB863129, RB872552, RB763710, RB92579 SP78-4764, SP81-3250 and SP79-1011 for P; SP79-1011, SP81-3250, RB813804, RB872552 and RB763710 for K; RB92579 and RB863129 for Ca; and RB92579 for Mg, for which the export values in stalks were highest. For the production of one TCH, the varieties needed 0.91, 0.13, 1.71, 1.18, and 0.44 kg of N, P, K, Ca, and Mg, respectively.