Sugarcane is a perennial grass grown for its stalks which contain high levels of sucrose. It thrives in tropical climates and provides over 50% of the world's sugar. The document discusses the botany, cultivation practices, pests and diseases, harvesting, and post-harvest handling of sugarcane. Key points include that it is propagated through cuttings, requires warm humid climates, and must be quickly processed after harvesting to prevent sugar losses.

1. SUGARCANE

2. INTRODUCTION
 Sugar cane (Saccharum spp.) is a perennial grass that
thrives well in tropical and frost free warm temperate
areas.
 It is one of the few plants which stores its
carbohydrate reserves as sucrose.
 The economic value of the sugar cane lies in the stalk,
and the sugar/sucrose they contain after crushing.
 Sugarcane provides over 50% of the worlds sugar
requirements as it can grow in any country where it is
not exposed to frost.

3. BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION
 Common name- Sugarcane
 Family- Poaceae
 Genus- Saccharum
 Species- (Several) officinarum, spontaneum, barberi,
sinense, edule and robustum
 Scientific name- Saccharum spp.

4. ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION
 Sugar cane originated from New Guinea and the
South Pacific. From there it progressed westwards,
especially under the form of the hybrid Saccharum
sinense (In China) and S. barberi (In India).
 In 15th century the Portuguese brought canes to
Madeira and subsequently to the canaries and Western
Africa.
 Now days Brazil, India, China, Thailand, Pakistan and
Mexico are the main sugar cane producing countries.

5. DISTRIBUTION IN TANZANIA
 In Tanzania Sugarcane is widely distributed mainly in
three regions,
 Morogoro,
 Kagera and
 Kilimanjaro

6. ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF SUGACANE
 Used for making sugar
 Chewed in most of producing regions hence used as
food
 Thickened juice produces (by product of sugar cane)-
molasses
 By-products used for ethanol production.
 Control soil erosion
 Provide feeds to animals (cattle).

7. BOTANY
 The cane is a tall stalk formed by a series of
joints both above and below ground.
 It has more or less protruding nodes and slightly
bulging internodes, with a vegetative but at the
node which develop the axil of the leaf shealth.
 The main parts of the sugar cane plant are the
(i) Leaves,
(ii) Stem (stalk) and
(iii) Roots.

8. BOTANY CONT’…
THE LEAF Sugarcane plant
 Sugar cane is a C4 plant with
alternate leaves, 1-2cm long and
5-7cm wide.
 The leaf of the sugarcane plant is
divided into two parts:
(1)sheath and
(2)blade,
THE STALK
 The stalk consists of segments
called joints.
 Each joint is made up of a node
and an internode.

9. BOTANY CONT’…
THE ROOT SYSTEM
 Two kinds of roots will develop from a
planted seed piece.
 The set roots, which arise from the
root band, are thin and highly
branched;
 The shoot roots, originating from the
lower root bands of the shoots, are
thick, fleshy and less branched
 The root system have two functions :
(1)It enables the intake of water and
nutrients from the soil; and
(2)it serves as anchorage.

10. The Inflorescence
 When a sugarcane plant has
reached a relatively mature stage
of development, change from the
vegetative to reproductive stage.
 This means the growing point
ceases forming leaf primordia and
starts the production of an
inflorescence.
 The inflorescence of sugarcane is
an open-branched panicle. Each
consists of several thousand tiny
flowers, each capable of producing
one seed

11. ECOLOGY OF SUGARCANE
 Sugarcane is a tropical crop. It requires warm
and humid climate for growth while cool, sunny
and dry climate for ripening
 Soil of pH of 5.0 -7.0 with high organic matter
in freely drained soils are suitable.
 Temperature of 20 to 28ºC and little fluctuation
between night and day.
 Rain fall around 1500-1700 mm annually, with
a drought occurring during harvesting.
 Altitudes of 0-1700 m

12. AGRONOMIC PRACTIESES IN SUGAR CANE
Land preparation
 Involves ploughing the land to fine tilth and formation
of drainage channels is important.

13. AGRONOMIC PRACTIESES CONT’…
Selection of planting material
 In order of getting higher germination the
following points must be considered in
selection of planting materials,
 Only top portion should be selected for seed
purposes because of younger and well protected
buds.
 The bud tissues are also rich in glucose,
moisture, growth regulating substances etc.

14. Selection of planting material Cont’…
 Cane seed material is from plant cane and age of
harvest of the crop cane seed should be 8-10 months.
 The planting material must not have undergone
drought, frost or flood as otherwise the buds would be
abnormal with poor germinability.
 The buds on the sett must be green, projected and free
from dry scaly leaves.

15. Selection of planting material Cont’...
 The mother stalks must have been well nourished
particularly with nitrogen and water because
preparation of an ideal seed starts several months
ahead of planting.

16. AGRONOMIC PRACTIESES CONT’…
Propagation and Planting
 Sugarcane is propagated by cuttings of the stalk/stem
(seed cane) containing usually two or more nodes
with buds.
 The cuttings are put down horizontally and covered
with a thin layer of soil. The buds are then allowed to
germinate on the standing cane stalk.
 When the new shoots have reached a certain length,
the cane is cut into setts and planted.

17. Planting methods.
 Planting in flat beds
 Low rainfall areas generally opt this planting
method, which is simplest as well as cheapest of
all.
 In this method the furrows of about 40-50 cm
depth are opened with the help of double mould
board plough or furrowers at 90 cm distance
wherein the seed-pieces are placed followed by
planking for a better seed soil contact.

18. Planting methods Cont’…
Ridge and furrow method
 The furrows are made in ‘v’ shape about 90 cm. Apart
and about 20-25 cm deep.
 The setts are placed in horizontal position, usually in
end-to-end system but if the seed stalk is not good and
inter-nodes are longer eye-to-eye system of planting
setts may be done.

19. Planting methods Cont’…
Trench method
 In this method the land is ploughed and trenches are made
about 1 meter apart with 20-30 cm depth and the soil
taken out from trenches is put in the inter-row spaces.
 The trenches are given “U” shape and the soil at the
bottom of the trenches is stirred up and mixed with
manures making them ready for planting.
 The setts are placed now in horizontal position, as in the
previous two methods by putting them either in end-to-
end system or eye-to-eye system depending upon the type
of seed stalk.

20. CROP MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING
 Fertilizer requirement
 The fertilizer needs of the crop depend on the climatic
conditions, rainfall, drainage, length of growing cycle and
sink capacity of the variety. Sugarcane, being a very long
duration crop, needs plenty of organic manure for a long
term and continuous supply of plant nutrients.Therefore,
well decomposed organic manures such as Farm Yard
Manure. Compost and/or leaf mould at 50-60 t/ha along
with 3-4 t/ha of powdered neem cake should be applied at
least 15 days ahead of planting the cane setts.

21. Irrigation
 Irrigation water, if
necessary, is supplied
every 2-4 weeks to the
cane rows in the case of
furrow irrigation, and to
the cane on flat land or
in small furrows in the
case of sprinkler
irrigation.

22. DISEASES AND PESTS
Sugar cane smut(Ustilago
Scitaminea)
 Whip-like, branch-less
shoots
 on the plant tip, adorned
with black spores
 CONTROL
 Treat seedlings with hot
water
 crop rotation in nurseries/
nursery beds

23. DISEASES AND PESTS cont’…
Pineapple disease
(Ceratocystis paradoxa)
 It is called pineapple disease
because of the characteristic
odour of the rotting cuttings,
which is like that of decaying
pineapples.
 The interior of affected seed
pieces becomes sooty black.
 Eventually the vascular
bundles (tissues conducting
fluids in the plant) become
fibrous strands in hollow
blackened core.

24. DISEASES AND PESTS cont’…
Ratoon stunting disease
(Clavibacter xyli subsp.
xyli)
 There is a decrease in plant vigour
and decline in yields, both of
which are noticeable in ratoon
crops.
 Red spots can sometimes be seen
in vascular tissues, especially in
the nodes.
CONTROL
 Its management involves planting
resistant varieties and also hot
water treatment of planting
material (50°C for 2 hours or 52°C
for 20 minutes).

25. DISEASES AND PESTS cont’…
The sugarcane mosaic
potyvirus (also called
mosaic of abaca) (SCMV)
 It causes systemic infection of
the sugarcane plant: the whole
plant, including roots, contains
virus.
 The symptoms are observed on
the leaves and sometimes the
stems. Sometimes the whole
plant is stunted.
CONTROL
 Rouging by digging out may be
useful in maintaining mosaic-
free seed plots of cane if the
level of infection is lower than
5%.

26. DISEASES AND PESTS cont’…
Red rot of sugarcane
(Glomerella tucumanensis
/ Colletotrichum falcatum)
 The fungus may infect any part
of the sugarcane plant. It is
most destructive as a rot of the
stalk of standing cane, seed
cuttings and/or stubble pieces
remaining in the ground after
the cane has been harvested. It
produces long lesions on the
leaf midribs.
 The lesions on the leaf midribs
are dark or red

27. CONTROL
 Disease management consists of planting disease-free
cuttings, resistant varieties and minimizing hazards of
injury by borers.
 Treatment of the seedlings with a 20-30 minute hot
water treatment at 52°C can be effective, although this
temperature should not be exceeded.

28. PESTS
Stem borer
Sugarcane borer
Damage of the African sugarcane borer,
(Eldana saccharina) in the stalk.
 Stemborers are the most important
pests of sugarcane. Several species of
stemborers attack sugarcane. The most
important is the African stemborer.
(Eldana saccharina)
CONTROL
 Use borer-free planting material
(setts).
 Proper fertilization is important; in
particular nitrogenous fertilizers have
shown to influence stemborer attack

29. Termites (Amitermes Spp.)
 Occasionally termites can be a
problem by attacking the seed pieces
or the roots and stems of established
plants.
CONTROL
 Deep tillage to expose termites to
desiccation and to predators,
 Dig mounds and destroy the queen.
 Spray plant extracts, such as those of
neem, wild tobacco and dried chili.
 Conserve natural Enemies.

30. Pink sugarcane mealybug (Saccharicoccus sacchari)
 Damage is partially caused by
the insect sucking the plant sap,
which may lead to stunting and
yellowing, thin canes, death of
young shoots
CONTROL
 Cultural methods such as
destruction of crop residues and
trash; clean cultivation; and use
of uninfested planting material
is the best way of controlling
this pest.

31. HARVESTING AND POST-HARVESTING
HANDLING
Harvesting
 Sugarcane harvest involves cutting the emergent stem
(or stalk) at the ground. The roots are left in the
ground and allowed to regrow or “ratoon.”
 Sugarcane takes 12-16 months to mature. When it is
ready for harvesting it stands two to four metres tall.
Farmers harvest their cane between June and
December when rainfall is less frequent and the
plant's sugar content is at its highest.

32. Harvesting cont’…
 Traditionally, the cane has been burnt before harvesting to
remove leaves, weeds and other trash which impede harvesting
and milling.
 However it is now common for sugarcane to be harvested
green rather than burnt. Green harvesting allows the farmer to
recycle nitrogen in the plant by leaving trash cuttings from
harvesting in the field.
 Sugarcane is harvested by big machines which move along the
rows of cane removing the leafy tops of the cane and cutting
the stalk into short pieces or "billets".
 Billets are loaded into bins which are towed alongside the
harvester. When full, the bins are taken by road or tramway to
the sugar mill.

33. Post-harvesting handling
 Sugarcane is a perishable commodity and must be
processed into sugar quickly after it is harvested.
 Post harvest sucrose losses have been reported from many
cane producing countries and linked with low sugar
recovery and several problems during sugar processing.
 Bio deterioration is associated with the inordinate delays
between harvest to milling of sugarcane and aggravated by
many intrinsic and extrinsic factors causing enormous
depreciation in cane tonnage as well as sugar recovery.

34. Post-harvesting handling cont’…
 Besides harvest-to-mill delays, other factors such as
ambient temperature, humidity, cane variety, period of
storage, activities of invertases, maturity status etc. are
responsible for decline in sugar recovery.
 The activity of invertases and proliferation of acid, ethanol
and polysaccharides (dextran) producing microbes play a
crucial role in the loss of recoverable sugars in cane and
milled juice.
 In addition to loss in sugar recovery, its adverse affects has
been noticed in the sugar manufacturing process and
sucrose quality.

35. Post-harvesting handling cont’…
 Efforts have been made to reduce loss in tonnage and
sucrose using physico-chemical methods. These
include;
Spraying of water,
bactericidal solution,
Use of anti-inversion and anti-bacterial formulations
Pre-harvest foliar and soil application of zinc and
mangnous compounds.