Contents

Series list

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part 1 Cultivation techniques

Part 2 Quality and sustainability

Part 1 Cultivation techniques

Chapter 1 The development of sugarcane cultivation

1 History of sugarcane

2 Sugarcane species

3 Description of the sugarcane plant

4 Sugarcane breeding

5 Agronomic practices in sugarcane

6 Sugarcane milling

7 Sugarcane cultivated today

8 Future trends and conclusion

9 Where to look for further information

10 Acknowledgement

11 References

Chapter 2 Crop modelling to support sustainable sugarcane cultivation

1 Introduction

2 Strategic applications of crop modelling

3 Operational applications of crop modelling

4 Improved adoption of crop modelling

5 Conclusions and future trends

6 Where to look for further information

7 References

Chapter 3 The Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative

1 Introduction

2 Origins of the Sustainable Sugarcane Initiative (SSI)

3 Basic principles of SSI

4 Tillering architecture and SSI

5 Field trials of SSI in India

6 Overview of Indian experience

7 SSI in Africa and Latin America

8 Future trends and conclusion

9 Where to look for further information

10 References

Chapter 4 Good planting and cultivation practices in sugarcane production

1 Introduction

2 A philosophy of BMP

3 The need for best practice crop establishment

4 Planning for the next sugarcane crop cycle

5 Implementing the crop establishment plan

6 Residue management, rectification and soil amelioration activities

7 Fallow and sugarcane-planting strategies

8 Cultivation practices and weed control

9 Irrigation

10 Conclusion

11 Acknowledgements

12 References

Chapter 5 Improving soil management in sugarcane cultivation

1 Introduction

2 Water management

3 Soil compaction

4 Tillage

5 Residue management

6 Cover cropping

7 Conclusion and future trends

8 References

Chapter 6 Improving nutrient management in sugarcane cultivation

1 Introduction

2 Benefits of crop rotation, green manure and trash retention

3 Cane fertilization: nitrogen

4 Cane fertilization: other macronutrients

5 Cane fertilization: micronutrients and silicon

6 Use of residues from cane processing

7 Foliar nutrition diagnosis

8 Conclusion

9 Where to look for further information

10 References

Chapter 7 Advances in sugarcane irrigation for optimisation of water supply

1 Introduction

2 Optimising irrigation of sugarcane

3 Case studies of sugarcane irrigation: Réunion Island and Senegal

4 Research on improving irrigation efficiency

5 Future trends and conclusion

6 Where to look for further information

7 Abbreviations

8 References

Chapter 8 Best management practices for maintaining water quality in sugarcane cultivation

1 Introduction

2 Industry-driven BMPs

3 SmartCane principles of BMP adopted by the Australian sugar industry

4 Phosphorus reduction BMPs in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) of Florida, USA

5 Sugarcane and nitrogen (N) cycling

6 Future trends and conclusion

7 Where to look for further information

8 Acknowledgements

9 References

Chapter 9 Precision agriculture and sugarcane production – a case study from the Burdekin region of Australia

1 Introduction

2 Yield monitoring and mapping

3 Remote and proximal sensing

4 High-resolution soil survey and digital elevation modelling

5 Data analysis and integration

6 Opportunities for targeted management and the cost: benefit ratio of PA implementation

7 Environmental imperatives

8 Future prospects

9 Conclusions

10 Where to look for further information

11 Acknowledgements

12 References

Chapter 10 Advances in harvesting and transport of sugarcane

1 Introduction

2 Pre-harvest ripening of sugarcane

3 Manual harvesting of sugarcane

4 Mechanical harvesting of sugarcane

5 Loading and transportation of sugarcane

6 Conclusion

7 Future trends

8 Where to look for further information

9 References

Chapter 11 Cultivating sugarcane for use in bioenergy applications: key issues

1 Introduction

2 Key issues and challenges in cultivating sugarcane for bioenergy applications

3 Addressing the key challenges

4 Case studies in how research can be used to improve cultivation in practice

5 Future trends in research

6 Concluding remarks

7 References

Part 2 Quality and sustainability

Chapter 12 Analysing the processing quality of sugarcane

1 Introduction

2 Composition of the whole sugarcane plant

3 Composition of sugarcane juice: sucrose, glucose and fructose

4 Other constituents in cane juice

5 Composition of sugarcane fibre and bagasse

6 Variation in juice composition

7 Production, harvesting and extraction

8 Sugarcane quality and grower payments

9 References

Chapter 13 Predicting the effect of climate change on sugarcane cultivation

1 Introduction

2 Sugarcane responses to change in temperature, rainfall and CO2 concentration

3 Assessing the impacts of climate change on sugarcane growth and yield

4 Brazilian biofuel strategy

5 Summary

6 Future trends in research

7 Where to look for further information

8 References

Chapter 14 Mitigating the impact of environmental, social and economic issues on sugarcane cultivation to achieve sustainability

1 Introduction

2 Environmental impacts on sugarcane cultivation

3 Economics of sustainable sugarcane cultivation

4 Case study: mitigating negative environmental effects

5 Small-scale grower (SSG) sustainable production

6 Conclusion and future trends

7 Where to look for further information

8 References

Chapter 15 Sugarcane as a renewable resource for sustainable futures

1 Introduction

2 Sugarcane resources and co-products

3 Sustainability for sugarcane-based biomass, bioenergy and biofuels

4 Agricultural operations and land use

5 Lifecycle performance and assessment

6 A brief case study in Brazil

7 Conclusion

8 References

Index