UPDATES

Published by the SRA-La Granja Agricultural Research and Extension Center La Granja, La Carlota City Negros Occidental, Philippines ? 0973-222-810

SRA-LGAREC

Vol. 2 No. 2 p. 1

June

1998

RATOONING OF SUGARCANE
Ratooning is a widely adopted practice that reduces cost of production in sugarcane farming. The uncut basal portion of the stalk is shaved with the use of cane knives or in some cases with a stubble shaver. Immediately aft er, off barring is done to allow better aeration, cut the old roots and induce new roots to form. Stool germination occurs when tillers formed out of the buds of the underground cane stubbles. With ratooning, the planter does away with land preparati on, cost of seed pieces and planting of cane points, thus, reducing total production expenses. Rosario and Mendoza (1977) stressed the need for early stubble shaving and further reported that minimum cultivation did not reduce ratoon yield of P hil 56226 when weeds were controlled by Karmex + 2,4 -D. Likewise, Espada and Gotera (1980) warned that delay in stubble shaving would cause undue delay in tiller germination, thus, reducing sugar yield. In the Philippines, the practice of ratooning usually extends only up to the second ratoon crop. This is because of its generally lower yield compared to the plant crop. Variety and cultural practices appear to be the dominant factor here. Phil 56226 is a high yielder plant crop but performs poorly as ratoon since the variety is susceptible to smut. On the other hand, Phil 6723 appears to be a good ratooner persistently giving higher yield than other varieties (Dosado, 1985). Two field experiments in Randomized Complete B lock Design were set up at Bais

and La Carlota mill districts from February 1997 to January 1998. The objective is to determine the ratoon potential of six Phil 90 series sugarcane varieties, one Phil 89 series variety and Phil 8583 -1. The standard manage ment practices used for ratoon canes in the locality were adopted. Data from the first ratoon crop showed that most of the varieties were comparable in tonnage and sugar yields to Phil 6607 (Table 1). Some were either lower or equal to Phil 8013 dep ending on location. Bais canes were high in tonnage but low in LKg /TC; conversely, La Carlota canes were low in tonnage but high in LKg/TC. Growth components such as stalk length, diameter, weight per stalk and number per square meter, likewise , differed significantly between varieties (Table 2). Ratooning increased tonnage yield of some varieties but decreased as well the yield of others (Table 3). The effect on LKg/TC and LKg/ ha varied with location. Sugar yield data showed that Phi l 90 -0745 and Phil 90 -0345 were good ratooners in Bais while all the test varieties except Phil 90 -0343 and Phil 90 -0345 were similarly good ratooners in La Carlota. Number of stalks per square meter was improved by ratooning but stalk length, diameter a nd weight per stalk generally decreased (Table 4)./glr

SOURCE: Bombio, I.S. 1998. Ratoon performance of new sugar cane varieties. Paper presented at the 1998 National In -House Review, Sugar Regulatory Administration, La Granja, La Carlota City, Jun e 10 -11, 1998.

UPDATES
Published by the SRA-La Granja Agricultural Research and Extension Center La Granja, La Carlota City Negros Occidental, Philippines ? 0973-222-810

SRA-LGAREC

Vol. 2 No. 2 p. 2

June

1998

Table 1. Sugarcane yield of first ratoon crop. TC/HA La Carlota 92.02 85.90 -a 89.93 91.04 68.79 -a-b 83.61 -a 86.15 -a 96.32 104.83 86.27 88.49 LKG/TC Bais La Carlota 2.08 -b 2.38 +b 1.23 -a-b 1.87 -a-b 1.78 -a 2.27 1.66 -a 2.18 -a 2.33 1.86 -a 2.14 -a 1.55 -a 2.25 1.95 2.24 2.09 2.38 1.88 -a 1.74 2.15 1.78 2.22 LKG/HA Bais La Carlota 304.48 +b 218.72 186.15 -a 159.34 -a 239.42 204.32 -a 268.47 198.39 -a 159.29 -a 233.45 176.94 -a 263.27 193.33 -a 264.46 215.58 275.32 249.49 272.49 237.91 186.36 254.54 196.18

VARIETIES PHIL 90-0745 PHIL 90-0799 PHIL 90-0505 PHIL 90-0173 PHIL 90-0343 PHIL 90-0345 PHIL 89-0621 PHIL 8583-1 PHIL 8013 PHIL 8477 PHIL 6607 MEAN
+a / - a +b / -b

Bais 146.58 151.43 133.88 157.33 125.30 171.08 135.80 132.13 147.05 136.40 143.70

Test variety significantly higher/lower than Phil 8013 Test variety significantly higher/lower than Phil 6607

Table 2. Growth components of first ratoon crop. LENGTH (CM) VARIETIES

PHIL 90-0745 PHIL 90-0799 PHIL 90-0505 PHIL 90-0173 PHIL 90-0343 PHIL 90-0345 PHIL 89-0621 PHIL 8583-1 PHIL 8013 PHIL 8477 PHIL 6607 MEAN
+a / - a +b / -b

DIAMETER (CM)
Bais La Carlota

W/STALK (KGM)
Bais La Carlota

STALKS/ SQM
Bais La Carlota

Bais

La Carlota

411 +b 438 +b 395 385 380 412 +b 360 -a 404 377 360 393

308 -a +b 350 +b 314 -a+b 306 -a 288 -a 289 -a 311 -a+b 332 +b 350 286 313

2.26 -a-b 2.50 2.62 +b 2.33 - a 2.40 -a 2.45 2.59 +b 2.56 2.38 -a 2.42 2.45

2.67 2.65 2.66 2.70 2.57 2.75 2.61 2.83 2.69 2.72 2.69

1.089 -a 1.389 1.415 1.123 -a 1.303 -a 1.252 -a 1.244 -a 1.594 1.251 -a 1.179 1.284

1.002 -a 1.101 -a 1.140 -a 0.987 -a 1.005 -a 1.136 -a 1.129 -a 1.179 1.366 1.081 1.113

13.5 +a 11.0 9.70 14.4 +a 9.60 13.9 +a 11.1 8.30 11.8 +a 11.8 11.5

9.1 7.8 8.1 9.3 6.8 7.4 7.7 8.2 7.7 8.1 8.0

Test variety significantly higher/lower than Phil 8013 Test variety significantly higher/lower than Phil 6607

UPDATES
Published by the SRA-La Granja Agricultural Research and Extension Center La Granja, La Carlota City Negros Occidental, Philippines ? 0973-222-810

SRA-LGAREC

Vol. 2 No. 2 p. 3

June

1998

Table 3. Effect of ratooning on sugarcane yield. TC/HA La Carlota +4.46 -17.73 -3.21 +7.32 -2.74 -17.56 -8.91 +2.48 +6.87 -5.78 -3.88 LKG/TC Bais La Carlota +0.03 +0.24 -0.53 +0.37 -0.30 +0.43 -0.36 +0.21 +0.07 -0.11 +0.04 -0.29 +0.36 -0.10 +0.27 -0.09 +0.20 +0.02 -0.38 +0.23 -0.21 +0.24 LKG/HA Bais La Carlota +18.11 +16.25 -33.69 +2.23 -9.20 +19.96 -10.77 +18.89 -0.29 +26.67 -16.46 -13.35 +8.93 -16.38 +16.93 -2.40 +16.88 -4.51 -24.77 +5.96 -8.80 +8.75

VARIETIES PHIL 90-0745 PHIL 90-0799 PHIL 90-0505 PHIL 90-0173 PHIL 90-0343 PHIL 90-0345 PHIL 89-0621 PHIL 8583-1 PHIL 8013 PHIL 8477 PHIL 6607 MEAN

Bais +17.00 -6.03 +5.29 +5.92 +34.21 +1.86 -11.99 +1.94 -3.46 -8.98 +1.95

+/- - percent increase/decrease over plant cane

Table 4. Effect of ratooning on growth components. LENGTH (CM) VARIETIES

PHIL 90-0745 PHIL 90-0799 PHIL 90-0505 PHIL 90-0173 PHIL 90-0343 PHIL 90-0345 PHIL 89-0621 PHIL 8583-1 PHIL 8013 PHIL 8477 PHIL 6607 MEAN
Bais La Carlota

DIAMETER (CM)
Bais La Carlota

W/STALK (KGM)
Bais La Carlota

STALKS/ SQM
Bais La Carlota

+1.48 -3.74 -1.98 +4.62 +1.33 -9.45 -4.69 -5.39 -15.66 -3.22 -3.91

-5.52 -5.41 -5.14 -2.86 -8.28 -5.25 -4.89 -7.78 -0.85 -10.63 -5.72

-9.96 -5.30 -5.42 -12.08 -0.42 -10.25 -10.38 -6.91 -15.30 -17.69 -9.59

+3.09 -0.75 -6.01 +1.50 -6.20 -2.14 -3.33 -3.41 -3.58 -2.86 -2.18

-8.02 -2.94 -11.45 -14.47 +2.92 -14.94 -23.49 -5.90 -25.27 -18.18 -12.65

-3.38 -14.58 -14.61 -18.22 -2.14 -18.86 -12.48 -4.61 +4.20 -1.64 -8.99

+27.36 -2.65 +21.25 +27.43 +29.73 +21.93 +16.84 +7.79 +29.67 +13.46 +18.55

+7.06 -3.70 +15.71 +32.86 -1.45 +2.78 +5.48 +7.89 +2.66 -2.41 +6.66

+/- - percent increase /decrease over plant cane