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Pulsed drip irrigation reduces sugarcane water consumption and improves growth, productivity, sugar and ethanol yields

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Abstract

The water deficit resulting from climate variations limits the profitability and sustainability of sugarcane fields, making water supply through irrigation necessary to sustain the potential production of sugarcane. However, the water used for irrigation purposes must be properly managed, ensuring the conservation of water resources and the reduction of costs with the use of inputs and energy. Pulsed drip irrigation aims to support irrigation management, improving the efficient use of water and mitigating the deleterious effects of water deficit. This study aims to evaluate the growth, productivity, and industrial yield of sugarcane cultivated under continuous and pulsed drip irrigation. A field experiment was conducted at the Experimental Sugarcane Station of Carpina, in Carpina in the State of Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil, from December 2020 to December 2021. The experimental arrangement was randomized blocks in a 2 x 5 factorial design, with two types of irrigation application (pulsed and continuous) and five irrigation levels (40, 60, 80, 100, and 120% of crop evapotranspiration – ETc), with four replications. Pulsed drip irrigation increased the yield of stalks (9%) and sugar (21%) in the sugarcane crop and ethanol (17%) derived from sugar in the juice. Pulsed drip irrigation, when compared to continuous irrigation, improved the performance of sugarcane, providing a reduction in water consumption and increasing growth, stalk yield, sugar and predicted ethanol yield. Thus, based on this study, pulse irrigation is an efficient approach to irrigation management, contributing to the stability of sugarcane production while conserving water relative to continuous irrigation.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES - Financing Code 001) and the Fundação de Amparo a Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco (FACEPE) for granting the scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal University Rural of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Sirleide Maria de Menezes, Gerônimo Ferreira da Silva, Manassés Mesquita da Silva, José Edson Florentino de Morais, Maria Catiana de Vasconcelos, Carolayne Silva de Souza & Mário Monteiro Rolim

  2. Sugarcane Experimental Station of Carpina, University Federal Rural of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, 55810-700, Brazil

    Djalma Euzébio Simões Neto

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  1. Sirleide Maria de Menezes
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  2. Gerônimo Ferreira da Silva
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de Menezes, S.M., da Silva, G.F., da Silva, M.M. et al. Pulsed drip irrigation reduces sugarcane water consumption and improves growth, productivity, sugar and ethanol yields. Bioenerg. Res. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-024-10729-4

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