Growth and yield responses to amending the sugarcane monoculture: interactions between break history and nitrogen fertiliser
M. J. Bell A B D and A. L. Garside A CA Sugar Yield Decline Joint Venture.
B Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, University of Queensland, PO Box 23, Kingaroy, Qld 4610, Australia.
C BSES Ltd, c/- CSIRO, PMB Aitkenvale, Townsville, Qld 4814, Australia; and Tropical Crop Science Unit, School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: m.bell4@uq.edu.au
Crop and Pasture Science 65(3) 287-299 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP13340
Submitted: 2 October 2013 Accepted: 10 January 2014 Published: 14 April 2014
Abstract
Experiments were established in the Burdekin Irrigation Area in North Queensland, Australia, to measure whether yield improvements from breaking the sugarcane monoculture or fumigating the soil could be modified by the application of different rates of nitrogen (N) fertiliser. Experiments were conducted in consecutive crop cycles (phase 1, planted 1998; phase 2, planted 2001) using the variety Q117, with the interaction between N applications and rotation histories discussed for the two plant crops. Histories consisted of alternate crop, bare fallow or mixed grass–legume pastures for periods of 42–66 months, compared with continuous cane as plough-out replant without (PORP) or with (PORP-F) soil fumigation. The N strategies involved combinations of N rates (0–180 kg N/ha) and application times (at planting, 90 days after planting (DAP) or split between these times) in phase 1 and N rates (0–300 kg N/ha) in phase 2.
Histories had differing effects on N available to the cane crop and hence on response to N fertiliser. Some combinations of history and N rate were N-limited and strong linear relationships between biomass production or cane yield and crop N content could be developed. Critical N contents for biomass production (R2 = 0.93) and fresh-weight cane yield (R2 = 0.88) were 1.42 and 0.57 kg N/t, respectively. Application of N fertiliser was shown to have significant impacts on both tiller addition and the retention of tillers to produce harvestable stalks. However, the application of fertiliser N had limited (phase 1) or no (phase 2) capacity to provide the quantum of yield response in soil health benefits associated with breaking the sugarcane monoculture. Increasing N application rates above that required to optimise crop yield resulted in significant decreases in sugar content of cane and thus lower sugar yields. Yield increases solely from improved soil health (i.e. exclusive of N response) constituted advantages averaging 15% (phase 1) to 20% (phase 2) compared with PORP. These effects were manifest early in the establishment of primary shoots in the plant crops, although the longevity of these benefits was limited. Replanting cane after a 3-year crop cycle (plant, 1st and 2nd ratoon) on land that had been under pasture, crop, bare fallow or PORP-F histories (phase 2, cycle 2) showed carryover effects of histories on N availability and fertiliser N responsiveness, but limited yield impacts attributable to residual soil health benefits. These results reinforce the importance of crop rotation during breaks between sugarcane cycles to maintain soil health and improve crop productivity.
Additional keywords: bare fallow, critical N concentration, nitrogen fertiliser, shoot dynamics, soil fumigation.
References
Bell MJ, Garside AL (2005) Shoot and stalk dynamics and the yield of sugarcane crops in tropical and subtropical Queensland, Australia. Field Crops Research 92, 231–248.| Shoot and stalk dynamics and the yield of sugarcane crops in tropical and subtropical Queensland, Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Bell MJ, Halpin NV, Garside AL, Moody PW, Stirling GR, Robotham BJ (2003) Evaluating combinations of fallow management, controlled traffic, and tillage options in prototype sugarcane farming systems at Bundaberg. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists 25, 17 [CD ROM]
Bell MJ, Garside AL, Stirling GR, Magarey RC, Moody PW, Halpin NV, Berthelsen JE, Bull JI (2006) Impact of fallow length, organic amendments, break crops and tillage on soil biota and sugarcane growth. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists 28, 273–290.
Bell MJ, Garside AL, Halpin NV, Salter B, Moody PW, Park G (2010) Interactions between rotation breaks, tillage and N management on sugarcane grown at Bundaberg and Ingham. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists 31, 119–139.
Borden RJ (1948) Nitrogen effects on the yield and composition of sugarcane. Hawaii Planter’s Record 52, 1–51.
Braunack MJ, Garside AL, Bell MJ (2003) The effect of rotational breaks from continuous sugarcane on soil physical properties. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists 25, 16 [CD ROM]
Brodie J, Binney J, Fabricius K, Gordon I, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Hunter H, O’Reagain P, Pearson R, Quirk M, Thorburn P, Waterhouse J, Webster I, Wilkinson S (2008). Synthesis of evidence to support the Scientific Consensus Statement on Water Quality in the Great Barrier Reef., Reef Water Quality Protection Plan Secretariat, The State of Queensland (Department of the Premier and Cabinet), Brisbane, Qld.
BSES (1984). Method 2, Pol—determination in juice (revised April 2001). In ‘The standard laboratory manual for Australian sugar mills. Vol. 2. Analytical methods and tables’. pp. 1–2. (Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations: Brisbane, Qld)
Garside AL, Bell MJ (2011a) Growth and yield responses to amendments to the sugarcane monoculture: effect of crop, pasture and bare fallow breaks and soil fumigation on plant and ratoon crops. Crop & Pasture Science 62, 396–412.
| Growth and yield responses to amendments to the sugarcane monoculture: effect of crop, pasture and bare fallow breaks and soil fumigation on plant and ratoon crops.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Garside AL, Bell MJ (2011b) Growth and yield responses to amendments to the sugarcane monoculture: towards identifying the reasons behind the response to breaks. Crop & Pasture Science 62, 776–789.
| Growth and yield responses to amendments to the sugarcane monoculture: towards identifying the reasons behind the response to breaks.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Garside AL, Berthelsen JE, Robotham BG, Bell MJ (2006) Management of the interface between sugarcane cycles in a permanent bed, controlled traffic farming system. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists 28, 118–128.
Langer RHM (1963) Tillering in herbage grasses. Herbage Abstracts 33, 141–148.
Mitchell AW, Reghenzani JR, Furnas MJ (2001) Nitrogen levels in the Tully River—a long-term view. Water Science and Technology 43, 99–105.
Moody PW, Bramley RGV, Skjemstad JO, Garside AL, Bell MJ (1999) The effects of fallow and break crops on the quantity and quality of soil organic matter in cane soils. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists 21, 87–91.
Pankhurst CE, Blair BL, Magarey RC, Stirling GR, Garside AL (2005a) Effects of biocide and rotation breaks on soil organisms associated with the poor early growth of sugarcane in continuous monoculture. Plant and Soil 268, 255–269.
| Effects of biocide and rotation breaks on soil organisms associated with the poor early growth of sugarcane in continuous monoculture.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2MXks1ersLs%3D&md5=44fcc28d60f661ffbd8ab7baffac0d14CAS |
Pankhurst CE, Blair BL, Magarey RC, Stirling GR, Bell MJ, Garside AL (2005b) Effect of rotation breaks and organic matter amendments on the capacity of soils to develop biological suppression towards soil organisms associated with yield decline in sugarcane. Applied Soil Ecology 28, 271–282.
| Effect of rotation breaks and organic matter amendments on the capacity of soils to develop biological suppression towards soil organisms associated with yield decline in sugarcane.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Rayment GE, Higginson FR (1992) ‘Australian laboratory handbook of soil and water chemical methods.’ (Inkata Press: Melbourne)
Robson MJ, Ryle GJA, Woledge J (1988) The grass plant—its form and function. In ‘The grass crop’. (Eds MB Jones, A Lazenby) pp. 25–83. (Chapman and Hall: London)
Rodriguez D, Fitzgerald GJ, Belford R, Christensen LK (2006) Detection of nitrogen deficiency in wheat from spectral reflectance indices and basic crop eco-physiological concepts. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 57, 781–789.
| Detection of nitrogen deficiency in wheat from spectral reflectance indices and basic crop eco-physiological concepts.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD28XmvFaktb8%3D&md5=b387b9adeb6ff71374fdee8b0c2aa951CAS |
Stirling GR, Blair BL, Pattemore JA, Garside AL, Bell MJ (2001) Changes in nematode populations on sugarcane following fallow, fumigation and crop rotation, and implications for the role of nematodes in yield decline. Australasian Plant Pathology 30, 323–335.
| Changes in nematode populations on sugarcane following fallow, fumigation and crop rotation, and implications for the role of nematodes in yield decline.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Stirling GR, Blair BL, Wilson E, Stirling AM (2002) Crop rotation for managing nematode pests and improving soil health in sugarcane cropping systems. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists 24, 129–134.
Stirling GR, Raimes E, Stirling AM, Hamill S (2011) Factors associated with the suppressiveness of sugarcane soils to plant-parasitic nematodes. Journal of Nematology 43, 135–148.
Thorburn PJ, Biggs JS, Weier KL, Keating BA (2003) Nitrate in groundwaters of intensive agricultural areas in coastal Northeastern Australia. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 94, 49–58.
| Nitrate in groundwaters of intensive agricultural areas in coastal Northeastern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD38XptFGqsrc%3D&md5=04c3d2a7efaf708a44d2d3a138351fcbCAS |
Thorburn PJ, Biggs JS, Collins K, Probert ME (2010) Using the APSIM model to estimate nitrous oxide emissions from diverse Australian sugarcane production systems. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 136, 343–350.
| Using the APSIM model to estimate nitrous oxide emissions from diverse Australian sugarcane production systems.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC3cXisFenurg%3D&md5=0c96d1a3cc1c5a0fae6de6b535287219CAS |
Thorburn PJ, Biggs JS, Webster AJ, Biggs IM (2011) An improved way to determine nitrogen fertiliser requirements of sugarcane crops to meet global environmental challenges. Plant and Soil 339, 51–67.
| An improved way to determine nitrogen fertiliser requirements of sugarcane crops to meet global environmental challenges.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC3MXmsVCgtg%3D%3D&md5=8a3be6b9c5f893912b1ec058f623343bCAS |
Webster AJ, Bartley R, Armour JD, Brodie JE, Thorburn PJ (2012) Reducing dissolved inorganic nitrogen in surface runoff water from sugarcane production systems. Marine Pollution Bulletin 65, 128–135.
| Reducing dissolved inorganic nitrogen in surface runoff water from sugarcane production systems.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC38XotlOgurc%3D&md5=e4be22b0a1207d06be9f38c4a6c4640cCAS | 22424798PubMed |
