In this presentation slides you will learn the maturity indices and the ways in which the sugarcane crop gets ripened. and also you will come to the ripening inhibitors for ripening of sugarcane crop.
2. SUGARCANE
COMMON NAME: sugarcane
FAMILY : Poeaceae
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Saccharam officinarum
CHROMOSOME NO: 2n=60&80
• Sugarcane (Saccharam officinarum) is widely grown crop in India.
• It provides employment to over a million people directly or indirectly besides
contributing significantly to the national exchequer.
• Sugar cane originated in New Guinea where it has been known for thousands of
years.
• Sugar cane plants spread along human migration routes to Asia and the Indian
subcontinent.
• Here it cross-bred with some wild sugar cane relatives to produce the commercial
sugar cane we know today.
3. SEASON OF SUGARCANE
• Sugarcane is grown chiefly in the main season (December -
May) in the entire State.
• In parts of Tiruchirapalli, Perambalur, Karur, Salem,
Namakkal and Coimbatore districts, it is also raised during
the special season (June - September).
4. SUGARCANE RIPENER
• The ripening of sugarcane is a characteristic of the plant
that can be stimulated by environmental and management
factors.
• Fernandes (1982) defined sugarcane ripening as a
physiological process that involves the synthesis of sugars
in the leaves, translocation of the products formed and
storage of sucrose in the stalk.
5. MATURITY AND RIPENING
• This phase lasts for about three months.
• Its maturation is determined by a definite sucrose level in
the stems (up to 14-16% stem mass) and a low level of
reducing sugars.
• The commercial ripening of stems can be identified quite
reliably by the ratio of refractometry indices of juice taken
from the seventh-eighth internodes and lower (0.95-0.98).
• In tropics, by harvesting time the sugarcane stems
accumulate on the average up to 14-16% sugar; in
subtropics 8-12% sugar.
6. TYPES OF RIPENING
• There are 2 types of ripening. They are as follows:
1) Chemical ripening
2) Artificial ripening
7. CHEMICAL RIPENING
• Chemical ripening of sugarcane is a well established
practice to enhance sucrose content in
many sugarcane growing countries.
• Chemical ripeners such as Ethephon, Glyphosate
analogues, Fusilade Super, Gallant Super are being used in
large scale sugarcane plantations.
• Zinc Sulphate (0.5%) + Urea (2.5%) or Zinc Sulphate (0.5%)
+ lime water are sprayed for its amelioration.
8. BENEFITS OF CHEMICAL RIPENING
• Chemical ripeners can provide one of the quickest returns
on investment during periods of the milling season when
cane quality is low.
• When conditions are optimal for their use, increases in
sucrose yields of more than 1.5 tons/ ha can be expected
from chemically-ripened sugarcane.
9. ARTIFICIAL RIPENING
Foliar application of chemical ripener has been found to
be useful in improving sugarcane quality.
Among the various chemicals studies, Polaris and Ethrel
are extensively used.
Spray Balsario chemical @4.5 kg per hectare in 1000 litres
of water.
The spray of this chemical matures sugarcane 6-8 weeks
earlier.
Chemical ripener like Polaris and Sodium Metasilicate
improve the juice sucrose when sprayed 6-8 weeks earlier.
10. BENEFITS OF ARTIFICIAL RIPENING
• Improves the sucrose content in the sugarcane.
• Induces the height of the plant.
• Avoids the pest and disease attack at the time of ripening
of sugarcane.
11. CONCLUSION
From the above types of ripening of sugarcanes I
recommend the artificial ripening of sugarcane rather than
chemical ripening of sugarcane because by using
chemicals to ripen the sugarcane the original tendency of
ripening of sugarcane will be lost.
