Abstract

ALONSO, Luis Gonzalo et al. Assessment of bioctivators in sugar cane, Tucumán, Argentina. Rev. ind. agric. Tucumán [online]. 2016, vol.93, n.2, pp.35-37. ISSN 1851-3018.

We evaluated the use of a foliar bioactivator at the beginning of the rainy season, as a strategy to accelerate sugarcane recovery after it had undergone the negative effects of water deficits at the onset of the crop cycle. Three trials were carried out in commercial fields planted with variety LCP 85-384 in the first and second ratoon crops, located in areas with different water stress levels and with soils with different organic matter content. Four treatments were evaluated: 1) a control; 2) bioactivator 2 L/ha (B); 3) conventional fertilisation at a rate of 115 kg of N/ha- (CF) and 4) CF + B. At harvest, stalk population and stalk weight were measured and yield was estimated for each treatment. These assessments were complemented with sugarcane factory yield analyses. All the data were analysed with an ANOVA and a Fisher's test (at 5 and 10% levels of statistical significance). All treatments had significant differences compared to the control regarding stalk population, but the greatest stalk population was obtained with the CF + B treatment (16% > control). All treatments had significantly greater stalk weight (P< 0.10) than the control, but stalk weights did not differ among fertiliser or bioactivator treatments. Weight increases measured in treatments with bio-activators (B and CF + B) amounted to 12%. All treatments had significantly greater cane yield when compared to the control treatment, with the greatest increases attained with the CF + B treatment (29.2% > control). The use of bio-activators influenced yield components in two different ways: when the sugarcane crop was fertilised with N, the bio-activator significantly increased stalk population, whereas in the case of crops without fertilisation, the effect was evident in both stalk population and weight.

Keywords : bioactivator; water stress.

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