Introduction of Fertigation in Sugarcane Production for Optimization of Water and Fertilizers Use

Daffa Alla Mohamed Abdel Wahab

Agricultural Engineering Section, Research and Development Department, Kenana Sugar Company, Rabak City, Sudan.

DOI: 10.4236/as.2014.511102                

Abstract

A fertigation experiment was conducted during 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 seasons under com-mercial field conditions in Kenana Sugar Scheme, Sudan (latitude 13.10’N and longitude 32.40’E) in heavy clay soils, with 65% clay, 24% silt, 11% sand and pH 7.5 - 8.5. The primary objective of this study was to compare different strategies for timing of injection, to develop management practices on the efficient use of water and fertilizers in production of sugarcane, maximize yield, and improve quality. In both seasons four treatments were studied in a randomized complete block design with three replications as: Injection of the dissolved urea (46% N) during entire irrigation time (100%), during the first half of the irrigation time, during the second half of the irrigation time, and Mechanical application of urea. The first three treatments were applied with the third irrigation cycle through the irrigation water so that nitrogen fertilizer in form of dissolved urea (46% N) was injected in irrigation water by means of pressure differential tank system which is based on the principle of a pressure differential being created by a valve and flow regulator forcing and injecting a varying amount of dissolved fertilizer into the irrigation water. In the fourth treatment the fertilizer spreader and rigid tine cultivator were used for urea application just before the third irrigation event. The reference evapotranspiration (ETo) and the amount of water required for irrigating sugarcane plants were calculated according to its phenological stages using Peman-Monteith approach. The results of this study support the general finding that the injection during the entire irrigation (100% of the irrigation) produced the best distribution uniformity of added urea. In this study, injection during the first half of the irrigation was not statistically different from injection during 100% of the irrigation.

Keywords

Irrigation, Injection, Fertigation, Randomized, Sugarcane, Gated Pipe, Hydro-Flume, Evapotranspiration, Phenological Stages

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Moberly, P. and Meyer, J.H. (1984) Soils: A Management Factor in Sugarcane Production in the South African Sugar Industry. Proceedings of the South African Sugar Technologist’s Association, 58, 192-197.
[2]	Bakker, M. (1999) Sugarcane Cultivation and Management. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4725-9
[3]	Meyer, J.H. and Wood, A.W. (2000) Soil Management Research for Sustainable Cane Production in the 21st Century. In: Wilson, J.R., Hogarth, D.M., Campbell, J.A. and Garside, A.L., Eds., Sugarcane: Research towards Efficient and Sustainable Production. CSIRO, Brisbane, 343-358.
[4]	Papadopoulos, I. (1996) Micro-Irrigation Systems and Fertigation. In: Pereira, L.S., et al., Eds., NATO ARW on Sustainability of Irrigated Agriculture, Kluwer Academia Publishers, New York, 309-322.
[5]	Brady, N. and Weil, R. (1999) The Nature and Properties of Soils. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River.
[6]	Plaster, E. J. (2003) Soil Science and Management. 4th Edition, Delmar Learning, USA.
[7]	Burt, C., O’Connor, K. and Ruehr, T. (1995) Fertigation. California Polytechnic State University, Irrigation Training and Research Center, San Luis Obispo.
[8]	Beth, F. and Filters, A. (1981) Fertigation Gains Increasing Acceptance. Irrigation Farmer, 8, 2.
[9]	Howell, T.A., Stevenson, D.S., Aljibury, F.K., Gitlin, H.M., Wu, I.P., Warrick, A.W. and Raats, P.A.C. (1980) Design and Operation of Trickle (Drip) Systems. In: Jensen, M. E., Ed., Design and Operation of Farm Irrigation Systems, ASAE, St. Joseph, 663-717.
[10]	Playán, E. and Faci, J.M. (1997) Border Fertigation: Field Experiments and a Simple Model. Irrigation Science, 17, 163-171. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s002710050035
[11]	Boldt, A.L., Watts, D.G., Eisenhauer, D.E. and Schepers, J.S. (1994) Simulation of Water-Applied Nitrogen Distribution under Surge Irrigation. Transactions of the ASABE, 37, 1157-1165. http://dx.doi.org/10.13031/2013.28189
[12]	Garside, A.L. and Nable, R.O. (1996) Sugarcane Growth and Yield Comparisons in Paired Old and New Land Sites. In: Wilson, J.R., Hogarth, D.M., Campbell, J. and Garside, A.L., Eds., Sugarcane: Research towards Efficient and Sustainable Production, CSIRO Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures, Brisbane, 248-250.
[13]	Burt, C.M. (1995) Irrigation Evaluations. In: The Surface Irrigation Manual, Waterman Industries, Inc., Exeter, 14.1-14.21.
[14]	Bouwer, H. (1990) Agricultural Chemicals and Groundwater Quality. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 45, 184-189.
[15]	Watts, D.G., Ostermeier, K.A., Eisenhauer, D.E. and Schepers, J.S. (1993) Fertigation by Surge Irrigation on Blocked-End Furrows. Proceedings of Conference on Agricultural Research to Protect Water Quality, Minneapolis, 21-24 February 1993, 523-526.
[16]	Farbrother, H.G. (1971) Crop Water Requirements (CWR) of Sugarcane and Net Irrigation Requirement in the North West Sennar Area. Agronomy and Crop Physiology Section. Gezira Research Station.
[17]	Clements, H.F. (1980) Sugarcane Crop Logging and Crop Control: Principles and Practices. University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu.
[18]	SAS Institute (1990) SAS/STAT User’s Guide 1990 Edition. SAS Institute, Inc., Cary.
[19]	Gomez, K.A. and Gomez, A.A. (1984) Statistical Procedures for Agricultural Research. 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York.
[20]	Landon, J.R. (2014) Booker Tropical Soil Manual: A Handbook for Soil Survey and Agricultural Land Evaluation in the Tropics and Subtropics. In: 2000 Symposium: Sugarcane: Research towards Efficient and Sustainable Production, Routledge, London, 237-240.
[21]	Abbasi, F., Simunek, J., van Genuchten, M.T., Feyen, J., Adamsen, F.J., Hunsaker, D.J., Strelkoff, T.S. and Shouse, P. (2003) Overland Water Flow and Solute Transport: Model Development and Field-Data Analysis. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, 129, 71-81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9437(2003)129:2(71)
[22]	Adamsen, F.J. and Rice, R.C. (1995) Nitrate and Water Transport as Affected by Fertilizer and Irrigation Management. Proceedings of 21st Century Conference: Clean Water—Clean Environment: Vol. II. Nutrients, 1-4.
[23]	Watts, D.G. and Schepers, J.S. (1995) Fertigation to Reduce Nitrate Contamination of Groundwater. Proceedings of 21st Century Conference: Clean Water—Clean Environment: Vol. II. Nutrients, 239-242.
[24]	Verma, R.S. (2002) Sugarcane Ratoon Management. International Distribution Company, India.
[25]	Deer and Company (1993) Soil Management. Deer and Company Service Publications, Moline.