Combining seaweed extract from Ascophyllum nodosum with nutrients enhances stalk yield when applied in the dry season during sugarcane development

• Published in: Plant stress (Amsterdam) 2024-09, Vol.13, p.100535, Article 100535
• Main Authors: Quassi de Castro, Sérgio Gustavo, de Castro, Saulo Augusto Quassi, de Castro, Rosilaine Araldi, de Castro, Renata Rebellato Linhares, Dorante, Luis Torres, Souza, Rejane Silva, Hippler, Franz Walter Rieger
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomic efficiency; Biostimulants; Environmental stress; Macronutrients; Micronutrients; Stalk yield
• ISSN: 2667-064X; 2667-064X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.stress.2024.100535

•The seaweed extract increases the stalk and sugar yield in cane plant and ratoon sugarcane.•The seaweed could be applied along the crop cycle – fall or spring.•The seaweed adoption reduces the effects of drought season.•The nutrients accumulation is the highest with nutrients together seaweed.•The seaweed contributes to better agronomic efficiency. Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) is an important crop grown for the production of sugar, ethanol, and other by-products. The cultivation cycle from planting until harvesting usually takes at least a year, during which the plant is exposed to various environmental stress conditions. To improve tolerance to such stressful conditions, sugarcane plants can be treated with biostimulants, such as extracts from the brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum. Whether the application of such a biostimulant, alone or in combination with nutrients, improves stress resistance in sugarcane is unknown. In this study, we conducted two field trials: one in a cane-plant field and one in a ratoon field, with treatments applied to leaves during the fall (before the dry season) or spring (positive water balance in the soil). The treatments consisted of foliar application of nitrogen, potassium, boron, and zinc, provided alone (nutrient treatment) or together with A. nodosum extract (biostimulant treatment) and a control treatment (without foliar application). Overall, foliar application of biostimulant increased sugarcane stalk yield by 24 Mg ha−1 and sucrose yield by 4 Mg Pol ha−1 compared to nutrient treatment. In addition, agronomic efficiency and nutrient accumulation were higher in plants under biostimulant treatment compared to nutrient and control treatments. Therefore, the foliar application of A. nodosum extracts to sugarcane leaves is a promising strategy for improving drought tolerance, yield, and the nutritional status of the stalk.