poster - International Conference of Agricultural Engineering

SUGARCANE FERTIRRIGATED WITH MINERAL FERTILIZER AND
VINASSE UNDER SUBSURFACE DRIP IRRIGATION DURING FOUR
CYCLES
Eduardo A. A. Barbosa 1 , Flavio B. Arruda 2 , Regina C. M. Pires 2 Tonny J. A. Silva 3
Emilio Sakai 2
1 Ph.D. Student in Agricultural Engineering, FEAGRI/UNICAMP, Campinas – SP.
2 Researcher, D.Sc, IAC/APTA, Campinas –SP
3 Teacher and Researcher, D.Sc, UFMT, Rondonopolis –MT
Corresponding author. E-mail: eduardo.agnellos@gmail.com
Abstract: The subsurface drip irrigation provides less consumption of water through
irrigation, improving the efficiency in fertigation, because the water and nutrients are applied
in roots zone and has the advantage of the safe usage of wastewater, what we can also see
in the case of vinasse. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of fertigation and
application of vinasse by subsurface drip irrigation in stem yield, as the technological
characteristics of sugarcane and yield of theoretical recoverable sugar. The field work was
carried out in randomized blocks, with four treatments and five replications. The treatments
were: T1NI – non-irrigated with conventional mineral fertilization, T2I - subsurface drip
irrigation and fertigation with mineral fertilizers, T3Iv - subsurface drip irrigation and
fertigation with a low dose of vinasse supplemented with mineral fertilizers, T4IV - subsurface
drip irrigation and fertigation with high dose of vinasse supplemented with mineral fertilizers
when necessary. Four cycles of cultivation were analyzed. Data were submitted to averages
compared by Duncan test at 5 and 10% of probability. The irrigation and fertigation with
vinasse by subsurface drip irrigation did not cause significant effect in the sucrose's content
of the sugarcane in all cycles, not affecting the quality of its juice. In the first, third and fourth
cycles, there was significant response to stem yield, of one or more irrigated treatments. The
sugar yields were affected in the first and third cycle: in these cycles the crop
evapotranspiration was similar or higher to the precipitation. In the second cycle, whereas
there was no effect of irrigation and fertigation in the stem and sugar yield. In these cycles,
the crop evapotranspiration was lesser that to precipitation (-1150 mm). In the final
computation, the treatments with vinasse were higher in the stems and sugar yield.
Keywords: Localized irrigation, sucrose, stem yield, wastewater, Saccharum officinarum L.
1. Introduction
The adoption of irrigation in the cultivation of cane sugar provides improvements in the
production environment (Carr & Knox, 2011), resulting in increases in the yield of stem and
sugar (Dalri & Cross, 2008). On the other hand, agricultural irrigation is a major source of
consumption of water, so, the search for more efficient methods of irrigation is required to
obtain more sustainable production environments (IPCC 2007).
An irrigation technique that promotes more efficient use of water is the subsurface drip
irrigation (SDI). Lamm et al. (1995) evaluated the volume of water consumed by the irrigation
of corn using the SDI technique, found out that water consumption was reduced by 25%
when compared to surface drip irrigation. The SDI is characterized by being a localized and
direct application of water in the root zone of the crop (Trooien & Lamm, 2003; Lamm &
Camp, 2007) favoring the efficiency of water use.
Due to the high uniformity of water application by the SDI (Gil et al., 2008) and the direct
application of water in the root zone of culture, the usage of fertilizers throughout the