ABSTRACT
Good planting and cultivation practices in sugarcane production Bernard L. Schroeder, University of Southern Queensland, Australia; Andrew W. Wood, Tanglewood Agricultural Services, Australia; David V. Calcino and Danielle M. Skocaj, Sugar Research Australia Limited, Australia; Alan P. Hurney, Edmonton, Australia; and Peter G. Allsopp, Seventeen Mile Rocks, Australia
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
Plant crop establishment is arguably the most important activity in the sugarcane production cycle. It provides the basis for the farming system that will exist in a particular field for the ensuing crop cycle consisting of a plant crop and several successive ratoon crops. It encompasses a series of critical steps for achieving successful, profitable and sustainable crops. Plant crop establishment (Fig. 1a) provides an opportunity to ensure that best management practices (BMPs) are identified (Bhadha and Schroeder, 2017) and implemented or continued on-farm (Calcino et al., 2008). If it is not performed well (Fig. 1b), the ensuing crop could be negatively affected. Crop establishment is also one of the most expensive operations in the farm budget (McGuire and Allsopp, 2010). For these reasons it is extremely important to ensure that it is well planned, there is ongoing attention to detail, an appropriate farming system is implemented and
maintained and it is economically justified. Planning is therefore an essential part of the process. Individual activities need to be identified and undertaken within a logical sequence of events in a timely manner.
