Establishment of DRIS Standards and Indices for Ratoon Cane Production in the Southern Region of Goiás, Brazil

• Published in: Sugar tech : an international journal of sugar crops & related industries 2022-12, Vol.24 (6), p.1710-1727
• Main Authors: Flores, Rilner Alves, dos Santos de Carvalho, Aline, Bueno, Amanda Magalhães, Martins, Camila, de Andrade, Aline Franciel, Xavier, Maxuel Fellipe Nunes, Mesquita, Marcio, Santos, Glenio Guimarães, Casaroli, Derblai, Leandro, Wilson Mozena
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Analytical chemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Chemical analysis; Copper; Cultivation; Diagnosis; Factorial design; Leaves; Life Sciences; Manganese; Nutrient deficiency; Plantations; Research Article; Stems; Sugarcane; Vinasse
• ISSN: 0972-1525; 0974-0740; 0972-1525
• DOI: 10.1007/s12355-022-01145-z

This study aimed to determine DRIS standards and indices in commercial sugarcane plantations through soil, leaf, and stem samples collected in the southern region of the state of Goiás, Brazil. The experiment was arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial design with two cultivation systems (with or without vinasse application) and two sugarcane varieties (CTC 4 and RB 867515), both with 50 sampling points. The database was created using the total amount of soil samples collected at a depth of 0–0.20 m for chemical analysis, leaves collected in the period of greatest vegetative development of the crop (240 days after ratoon sprouting) for chemical analysis and the yield of stems for the industry. It was found that fertigation with vinasse can promote increases in the yield of cane stalks for the industry in the order of 35 t ha −1 for the variety CTC 4. The DRIS indices for the soil enabled to diagnose limitations caused by nutritional deficiencies regarding the available contents of P and Zn for areas cultivated with CTC 4 and the available contents of K, Cu, Fe, and Mg for areas cultivated with RB 867515. The nutritional diagnosis carried out using the DRIS method for the chemical analysis of leaves showed greater sensitivity for detecting nutritional limitations of Ca, Cu, and Mn compared to traditional methods of interpretation by critical levels. The nutritional balance index (NBI) is an efficient tool for the proper diagnosis of nutritional balance, since the lowest NBI indices were the ones that provided the highest stalk yields of ratoon cane for the industry.