Sustainable Nutrient Management in Sugarcane Fields

The state of sugar in Indonesia which is decreasing in terms of production, the imbalance between production and consumption, can occur due to two things, both on-farm and off-farm. Planting in monoculture for a long period of time will cause reduced soil fertility conditions so that sugarcane productivity decreases. Sustainable nutrient management in sugarcane plantations is an effort made to obtain optimal and profitable productivity, while still trying not to damage the environment so that it can be sustainable and its productivity can be maintained in the long term. Several concepts for sustainability have been put forward by many experts, including the use of site-specific fertilizers, maintaining soil fertility by using sugar processing by-products and the use of humic. It is hoped that some of these application methods can maintain sugarcane plantations to be sustainable.

The impact of agricultural extension on productivity of smallholder sugarcane farmers in East Java

Agricultural extension is one of the most important factors to increase smallholder sugarcane farmer capacity and encourage the acceleration of technology adoption which positively correlates with farm productivity. This study aims to evaluate the impact of agricultural extension on the productivity of smallholder sugarcane farmers in East Java. While few previous studies showing the relationships, very limited involving a relatively large number of samples. This study used data from Indonesian Plantation Farm Household Survey 2014 by the Indonesian Statistical Agency (BPS). The number of samples was 2,893 farmers consisting of 2,463 farmers who did not participate (control group) and 430 farmers who participated in agricultural extension (treatment group). Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to evaluate the impact of agricultural extension on the productivity of sugarcane farming. Typically, the treatment group is better than the control group. The treatment group has an average education of 7.89 years, land area of 2.74 hectares and sugarcane productivity of 72 tons/ha. Meanwhile, the control group has an average education of 5.96 years, land area of 0.88 hectares and sugarcane productivity of 61 tons/ha. Our results show that farmers who participated in agricultural extension have a 9.05 tons higher productivity compared to those who did not participate. Therefore, farmers’ participation in agricultural extension should be encouraged by improving the frequency as well as the quality of agricultural extension. While the number of extension workers for plantation crops is limited, recruitment of more extension workers can be an optional policy for the government.

Respons tanaman tebu (Saccharum officinarum L.) terhadap aplikasi konsorsium biostimulan di tiga tipologi lahan

The consortium biostimulant combines several types of biostimulant applied holistically, such as phytohormones to induce physiological processes, humic acid to improve nutrition intake and land fertility, and biofertilizer arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to improve abiotic stress tolerance. The objectives of this research were to analyze the effect of application consortium biostimulant on the growth and productivity of Bululawang sugarcane variety planted in three land typologies, i.e. irrigated heavy soil with good drainage (BPL), irrigated heavy soil with poor drainage (BPJ), and rainfed light soil with good drainage (RHL). The research was conducted on plant cane (PC) sugarcane areal in Lumajang Regency, East Java, from July 2019 to September 2020. The treatment plot area was 1 ha for each land typologies, and the observation were conducted on 10 m plant row with ten times replications. Each treatment was replicated ten times. The results showed that the application of consortium biostimulant could induce faster growth of sugarcane shoots and better roots at one month after planting (MAP). Stalk height and diameter showed significantly different values between treatment and control at the plant age 6 to 12 MAP. In addition, the sugarcane stalk weight per meter row also increases by 13.72 – 28.57%. The growth performance of sugarcane on a commercial scale increased, also sugarcane productivity increased by 11.08 – 20.36%. The potential sugar yield increased by 15.05% in BPL land typology, 4.9% in BPJ land typology, and 9.7% in RHL land typology. The difference in land typologies affected the effectiveness of the consortium biostimulant application in increasing sugarcane productivity.

Keterkaitan Sikap Kewirausahaan Petani Tebu dan Produktivitas Tebu di Kabupaten Malang

Entrepreneurial attitude is an important role in increasing the ability of sugarcane farmers to increase the productivity of sugarcane farming. Increasing sugarcane productivity is one of the efforts to overcome the sugar deficit in Indonesia, which from 2016 to 2019 averaged 4.7 million tons. This study aims to analyze the relationship between the entrepreneurial attitude of sugarcane farmers and sugarcane productivity in Malang Regency by using cross-tabulation. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze his entrepreneurial attitude. The indicators used to measure entrepreneurial attitudes are self-categorization, motivation, self-efficacy, risk-taking, innovation, ability to see opportunities, and growth-oriented. The seven indicators were measured using a Likert scale. This research was conducted by interviewing 50 sugarcane farmers in Malang Regency. The method of determining respondents was carried out by Multi stages Random Sampling. As many as 70 percent of sugarcane farmers in Malang Regency had a low entrepreneurial attitude, especially on the indicators of innovation and motivation with an average score of 2.38 and 2.17. The results of the cross tabulation show that there was a positive relationship between the entrepreneurial attitude of sugarcane farmers in Malang Regency and their productivity achievements.

Implementation of Climate-Smart Agriculture to Boost Sugarcane Productivity in Indonesia

<p>Sugar is one of Indonesia’s strategic commodities, but its production fluctuates over time and is still unable to comply with the national sugar demand. This condition may even get worst with climate change. Although climate-smart agriculture is a promising thing, it is basically a genuine concept for many farmers in Indonesia, including sugarcane growers. The paper briefly reviews and argues agronomic practices as a climate-smart agriculture approach adapted by sugarcane growers in Indonesia to increase its production under the changing climate. Some agronomic practices can be adopted by the Indonesian sugarcane growers as climate-smart agriculture, i.e., efficient irrigation, improved drainage of sugarcane plantations, the use of suitable sugarcane cultivars, green cane harvesting-trash blanketing, the amendment of soil organic matter, crop diversification, precision agriculture, and integrated pest management. From the Indonesian government’s side, research should be propped as there is limited information about the effectiveness of each aforementioned agronomic intervention to alleviating the adverse effect of climate change and to improving sugarcane growth. Practically, to ensure the success of climate-smart agriculture implementation in the Indonesian sugar industry, multistakeholders, i.e., sugarcane growers, researchers, civil society, and policymakers, should be involved, and the government needs to link these stakeholders.</p><p>Keywords: Sugarcane, productivity, climate-smart agriculture, agronomic management, precision agriculture</p><p> </p><p><strong>Abstrak</strong></p><p><strong>Implementasi Pertanian Cerdas Iklim untuk Meningkatkan Produktivitas Tebu di Indonesia</strong></p><p>Gula merupakan salah satu komoditas strategis Indonesia, namun produksinya mengalami fluktuasi dan belum dapat memenuhi kebutuhan gula nasional. Kondisi ini diperburuk oleh perubahan iklim. Pertanian cerdas iklim memberikan peluang besar bagi tanaman tebu untuk dapat beradaptasi dan memitigasi dampak perubahan iklim. Meskipun pertanian cerdas iklim menjanjikan, namun merupakan hal baru bagi banyak petani di Indonesia, termasuk petani tebu. Tulisan ini menelaah dan mengemukakan praktek agronomi sebagai pendekatan pertanian cerdas iklim yang dapat diterapkan petani tebu di Indonesia dengan tujuan meningkatkan produksi tebu di bawah kondisi perubahan iklim. Terdapat beberapa praktik agronomis sebagai bagian dari pertanian cerdas iklim yang dapat diadopsi petani tebu di Indonesia, seperti efisiensi irigasi, perbaikan sistem drainase, pemilihan kultivar tebu yang sesuai, pemanfaatan residu serasah tebu, peningkatan bahan organik tanah, diversifikasi tanaman, pertanian presisi, dan pengelolaan hama terpadu. Dari perspektif pemerintah Indonesia, penelitian harus didukung karena terbatasnya informasi efektivitas masing-masing intervensi agronomi tersebut untuk mengurangi dampak buruk perubahan iklim dan untuk meningkatkan pertumbuhan tebu. Secara praktis, untuk memastikan keberhasilan penerapan pertanian cerdas iklim pada industri gula Indonesia, multi-stakeholder yang terdiri atas petani tebu, peneliti, masyarakat sipil, dan pembuat kebijakan harus saling terlibat dan pemerintah perlu menghubungkan para pemangku kepentingan ini.</p><p>Kata kunci: Tebu, produktivitas, pertanian cerdas iklim, manajemen agronomis, pertanian presisi</p>

Influence of Cultivars and Nitrogen Fertilizer Rates and Application Mode on Yields and Quality Parameters of Ratoon Sugarcane in Western Kenya

Productivity of sugarcane in Kenya has declined despite use of recommended production practices including introduction of elite high yielding and early maturing sugarcane varieties. Farmers continue to use recommended agronomic inputs for the old low yielding and late maturing varieties on these elite varieties. Nitrogen fertilizer rates in single or split doses for old varieties are still in use yet their appropriateness on new varieties remains untested culminating to decline in sugarcane productivity in Kenya. Currently, cane payment is based on delivered milling cane weight. The industry plans to change payment to a combination of quality and yields. Influence of agronomic inputs and timing of harvesting period on proposed mode of payment is unknown. Harvesting age in western Kenya remains 18-20 months after ratooning (MAR). However, optimal age that combines quality and yields is not documented. Influence of these agronomic practices on quality, yields and optimal harvesting age of ratoon crop of new (D8484) and old (CO421) varieties were evaluated in a 2x4x3 split-split-plot design replicated three times. Four rates of nitrogen as urea, all applied at 3 MAR, split once (50-50%) and applied at 3 and 6 MAR or split three times (40-30-30%) and applied at 3, 6 and 9 MAR were evaluated. Yields and quality parameters were monitored from 10th-24th MAR. Variety D8484 out-yielded (p≤0.05) CO421 throughout demonstrating its superiority. Yields reached maximum at 20 and 19 MAR for CO421 and D8484, respectively. Maximum pol and brix were attained at 18 and 15 MAR for CO421 and D8484, respectively, while commercial cane sugar (CCS) was maximum at 18 and 17 MAR for CO421 and D8484, respectively. Results demonstrated that for high returns, D8484 should be harvested between 15-18 MAR while CO421 between 17-19 MAR. The 60 kg N/ha, that produced higher (p≤0.05) output in both varieties, from 16th MAR is recommended for both varieties. Split fertilizer application did not affect productivity.

ScFT6: A Putative Candidate for Sugarcane Floral Inducer

One of the factors that can decrease sugarcane productivity is the flowering, because it affects the quantity and quality of feedstock, due to sucrose consumption from the stem during inflorescence emission. Photoperiodicity is the main environmental factor involved in sugarcane floral induction, which occurs by the integration of gene regulatory networks in response to environmental and endogenous stimuli. One of the genes involved in those regulatory networks is the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), which is considered a phloem-mobile signal that stimulates floral induction in the shoot apical meristem. This work aimed to identify and characterize homologs of the FT gene in sugarcane, as well as to determine the putative function of these genes during floral induction. From this perspective, we have conducted in silico analyses of putative FT orthologs in sugarcane, as well as the expression levels in different photoperiodic conditions in a 24-hours-day-cycle of ScFT6 in different plant tissues in contrasting cultivars in terms of flowering time. Three new possible FT orthologs were found with high similarity to FT homologs in other species. Among three genes identified, we highlighted ScFT6, which has a conserved domain and amino acids at characteristic positions for the flowering inducer phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein gene family. Additionally, its expression occurs according to coincidental model, possibly being controlled by the circadian clock. Cultivars with distinct flowering time behavior display variable expression for the ScFT6 gene, suggesting a possible genotypic relationship for its expression. Therefore, sugarcane has at least one putative orthologous gene in relation to FT that promotes floral induction.