Sugarcane

Sugarcane is among the world's most important industrial crops, grown across tropical and subtropical regions to supply raw sugar, ethanol, and by-products such as molasses and bagasse. Its long growth cycle and ratoon cropping system distinguish it from most annual field crops.

The total time from planting to first harvest, and between successive ratoons, varies considerably by region and climate, generally spanning roughly ten months to two years depending on local growing conditions.

Family

Poaceae (grass family)

Genus

Saccharum

Principal species/hybrids

Saccharum officinarum and complex interspecific Saccharum hybrids used commercially

Growth habit

Tall perennial grass propagated vegetatively from stem cuttings, regrowing from stubble as a ratoon crop

Sugarcane is believed to have originated in New Guinea and neighboring parts of Southeast Asia, where Saccharum officinarum was domesticated, before spreading across South and Southeast Asia and, through later trade and colonization, to Africa and the Americas.

Today, sugarcane is grown across a broad tropical and subtropical belt, with major production concentrated in parts of the Americas and South and Southeast Asia. Production and trade statistics are compiled by FAO and should be taken from those primary datasets.

Sugarcane requires substantial warmth and sunlight over its long growing cycle to accumulate sucrose, and it is grown across tropical and subtropical zones with adequate heat accumulation. It has little tolerance for frost, which can damage or kill standing cane.

A period of cooler, drier conditions before harvest is sometimes associated with improved sucrose concentration in some production regions, in contrast to the warm, moist conditions favored during the main vegetative growth phase.

Sugarcane tolerates a wide range of soil types, from loams to heavier clay loams, provided soils are deep and reasonably fertile to support its extensive root system and large biomass.

New sugarcane fields are established from disease-screened stem cuttings containing viable buds. After the first harvest, the stubble is managed to regrow as a ratoon crop, and fields are typically ratooned for several cycles before declining vigor makes replanting worthwhile.

• Use of certified, disease-free planting material (setts)
• Ratoon management practices to sustain yield across successive harvests
• Weed control, particularly important during the slower-growing early stages
• Decisions on replanting interval based on ratoon yield decline and disease buildup

Sugarcane has substantial nitrogen and potassium requirements given its large biomass, with potassium particularly linked to sucrose accumulation and overall stalk quality.

Sugarcane has a high water requirement over its long growing cycle. Furrow and flood irrigation have historically been common in many production regions, while drip irrigation is increasingly adopted where water efficiency is a priority.

Water stress during key growth phases can reduce both cane yield and sucrose accumulation, making irrigation scheduling an important management consideration in drier production areas.

Fusarium-associated stalk and shoot diseases affect sugarcane in various production regions, and root rots caused by soil-borne pathogens can reduce stand vigor, particularly under poorly drained conditions. Aphids and fall armyworm, a broad-host-range pest, are among the insects that can damage foliage and reduce yield potential.

Management combines disease-free planting material, resistant varieties where available, monitoring, and — where justified — locally authorized control products applied according to their labels.

Sugarcane is harvested when sucrose concentration in the stalk peaks, either by hand or mechanically, with green (unburned) harvesting, which retains crop residue as ground cover, increasingly favored over pre-harvest burning in many regions. Because sucrose degrades relatively quickly after cutting, cane is milled soon after harvest.

• Raw and refined sugar production
• Ethanol and other biofuel production
• Molasses for animal feed and industrial fermentation
• Bagasse (fibrous residue) used for energy cogeneration and paper products