Abstract

LEGGIO NEME, María Fernanda et al. Identification of the most influential factors in the response to chemical ripeners in sugar cane in Tucumán, Argentina. Rev. ind. agric. Tucumán [online]. 2019, vol.96, n.2, pp.07-13. ISSN 1851-3018.

The effect of chemical ripeners depends on the ecological characteristics of each sugarcane region, the chemical chosen product, time and dose used. There is a marked influence of the prevailing weather conditions before and between the spray of the ripener and the harvest, the spray quality and other factors that creates the need for local adjustment of this technology. In local conditions, best responses were found with treatments carried out at the end of the "Grand Growth Phase" (mid-March-mid-April), characterized by decreasing growth rates and not very significant ripening. The objective of this work was to identify the environmental and management factors that have the greatest influence on sugarcane response to chemical maturation treatments and quantify the magnitude of their effects. 26 trials were conducted in eight years, on different commercial varieties, locations, products, doses and time of application. Feedstock quality analysis determined responses to treatments and, subsequently, identify causal variables that influence a dependent variable. The obtained results indicated that the most influential factor in the final result was the time of application expressed through the average temperature after application. As the agronomic efficiency of a ripener depends on environmental conditions, these results allow to explain, to a large extent, the observed variability in responses between different years.  

Keywords : sugarcane quality; ripener; temperature.