Water relations of two contrasting sugarcane genotypes

doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2014.08.008

Field Crops Research

Volume 168, November 2014, Pages 86-100

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2014.08.008 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
Sugarcane transpiration can be estimated reliably with heat balance sap flow technology.
•
High-fibre sugarcane used more water than traditional cane because it had a higher leaf area index.
•
Transpiration rates declined sooner in traditional cane than in high-fibre cane, in response to water stress.

Abstract

High-fibre sugarcane (energy-cane) cultivars have generated a lot of interest as candidates for bio-fuel production in marginal areas, especially when cellulosic ethanol is also considered. However, a better understanding is required of how much water would be used during cultivation and of their response to drought in terms of water relations. The aim of the study was to investigate the water relations of a high-fibre sugarcane hybrid (Saccharum spp F1 hybrid, 04G0073, referred to as G73) under well watered and drought stress conditions, and compare it with that of a traditional sugarcane cultivar (Saccharum spp, cultivar N19). This would help with a better understanding of the underlying physiology of differences in water use and drought response between high-fibre and traditional sugarcane. The trial consisted of four plots which were planted in a rainshelter facility at Mount Edgecombe, South Africa in October 2011. Two plots received adequate water for the duration of the trial (well-watered treatments), while the other two received no water after 10 February 2012 (water stress treatments), except for the unintended intrusion of water into the root zone on 3 March 2012. The experiment ended on 7 May 2012. Volumetric soil water content was measured with a neutron water meter and daily sap flow was recorded using the non-intrusive heat-balance method. Leaf water potential (ψ_L) was measured periodically with a pressure chamber, while stomatal conductance was measured periodically with a LiCor 6400. The study has shown that the heat balance method (constant heat source) of measuring sap flow velocity is a suitable technique for estimating transpiration rate in sugarcane. Transpiration rates of well-watered G73 were higher (11%) than that of well-watered N19, presumably due to a higher green leaf area index (GLAI) (6%). There was no evidence to suggest that parameters for calculating maximum evapotranspiration using the Penman-Monteith or FAO method need to be adjusted for high-fibre varieties. Transpiration rates of N19 were reduced sooner and at higher levels of soil water status, than that of G73, as water stress levels increased. G73 had the ability to maintain higher stomatal conductance (g_s) than N19 at the same soil water status level, even though leaf water potential was similar between the genotypes. Higher transpiration rates of stressed G73 plants facilitated extended extraction of water from a drying soil profile, which could be a detrimental trait in marginal areas where long dry spells are common. Reduced rates of transpiration and water extraction from the soil profile through stomatal control could be a desirable trait for survival and optimal biomass production in marginal areas. G73 had higher biomass yield (12%) and WUE (10%) under well-watered conditions compared with N19 but water stress reduced both yield and WUE of G73 by 44% and 24%, respectively. The data obtained from the current study will be used for deriving crop parameters for sugarcane crop models with regards to energy-cane genotypes and may be useful in identifying marginal areas suitable for energy-cane cultivation.

Introduction

Sugarcane is acknowledged as an important bio-energy crop (Tew and Cobill, 2008, Olivério and Ferreira, 2010) that could contribute to the growing need for renewable energy. Sugarcane is high yielding (Waclawovsky et al., 2010) and has been shown to use resources (land, water, nitrogen and energy) efficiently (Gerbens-Leenes et al., 2009, De Vries et al., 2010). Bio-ethanol can be produced from the fermentation of soluble sugars in stems, while 2nd generation technology enables the production of ethanol from cell wall sugars derived from cellulose and hemicellulose in stem and leaf fibre (de Souza et al., 2013, Diasa et al., 2009, Ragauskas et al., 2006, Waclawovsky et al., 2010). This will greatly enhance the potential ethanol output from sugarcane and at the same time address concerns regarding ethanol production from food crops in high potential production areas (de Souza et al., 2013; Waclawovsky et al., 2010). Cellulosic ethanol technology also opens up the possibility to produce ethanol from high-fibre, low-sucrose energy cane (Alexander, 1985).

There are indications that high-fibre energy cane (F1 hybrid crosses of Saccharum spp. with its wild relatives (S. spontaneum, Erianthus spp. and Miscanthus spp.) or crosses between F1 hybrids and Saccharum spp. (BC1 generation hybrids)) produces higher biomass yields than traditional cultivars (Alexander, 1985, Silva et al., 2007, Kim and Day, 2011) and better tolerates harsh environmental conditions (Tew and Cobill, 2008). This makes them an ideal feedstock for bio-ethanol production (Canilha et al., 2012). High-fibre energy cane could therefore be used for biomass production in marginal production areas where resource levels are low, such as low rainfall areas or areas with poor soils. Higher biomass yields can only be achieved by increased capture of resources (mainly radiation and water) and/or by increased conversion efficiency of captured resources to biomass. It is therefore important to better understand water relations of high fibre sugarcane, and particularly how they use water and cope with dry conditions in comparison with conventional sugarcane. This information is needed for reliable determination of the feasibility of growing high-fibre sugarcane for biomass production in marginal areas. Water relations of traditional sugarcane has been researched extensively (Hsiao, 1973, Inman-Bamber and de Jager, 1986a, Inman-Bamber and de Jager, 1986b, Abayomi and Lawal, 1998, Ali et al., 1999, Singels et al., 2000, Singels and Inman-Bamber, 2002, Inman-Bamber and Smith, 2005, Smit and Singels, 2006, Koonjah et al., 2006, Silva et al., 2007). In contrast, very little is known about the physiology of high-fibre sugarcane, especially with respect to water relations. In an excellent review of sugarcane water relations, Inman-Bamber and Smith (2005) reported on water use determination, and the role of leaf area, leaf water potential, and stomatal conductance on water use and drought tolerance. Transpiration rate is determined by energy exchanges at the cropped surface (atmospheric and crop factors) and internal energy gradients in the soil-plant-atmosphere system (Inman-Bamber and Smith, 2005). Stomata on the leaves respond to these factors in order to regulate transpiration through the stomatal aperture. This control is represented in the Penman-Monteith equation (Monteith, 1981) as bulk surface resistance (Allen et al., 1998), or alternatively, canopy conductance (g_c). The relationship between g_c and stomatal conductance (g_s) is given by (McGlinchey and Inman-Bamber, 1996): $g_{c} = g_{s} (0.5 GLAI)$ where GLAI is green leaf area index.

Meinzer and Grantz (1989) demonstrated that g_c only regulates transpiration when crops are water-stressed using the decoupling coefficient (Ω) which describes the relationship between g_c and aerodynamic conductance for water vapour transfer (g_a). Inman-Bamber and Smith (2005) maintained that, because of this, full canopy transpiration rate of well-watered crops will differ little between cultivars.

Grantz and Meizner (1991) suggested that stomata responded to vapour pressure gradients and photon flux density. Smith et al. (1999) and Grantz and Meizner (1990) suggested that stomata also responded to hormonal root signals under drought stress. Saliendra et al. (1991) and Inman-Bamber and de Jager (1986b) found that some cultivars closed stomata at much higher leaf water potentials (ψ_L) than others, suggesting that this relationship is cultivar-specific. Smit and Singels (2006) found that cultivar NCo376 maintained higher g_s for longer and at lower soil water contents than drought susceptible cultivar N22, as an imposed water stress event unfolded. However, the g_s vs ψ_L relationship was similar for these two cultivars. Olivier and Singels (2003) found that N22 was more sensitive to water stress than N25 and N14, showing a much larger cane yield reduction when irrigation was reduced by 50%.

Inman-Bamber and Smith (2005) identified early stomatal closure, osmoregulation and reducing effective leaf area through leaf rolling and accelerated leaf and stalk senescence as drought adaptation traits in sugarcane. Blum (1996) and Chaves et al. (2003) found that drought tolerant genotypes reduce transpiration under dry conditions through early stomatal closure thereby conserving soil moisture and allowing plants to maintain an adequate water status to sustain critical physiological and biochemical processes. However, stomatal closure often leads to a decline in biomass accumulation because carbon assimilation (photosynthesis) is also reduced (Sinclair et al., 1994).

Crop water relations studies rely heavily on the determination of crop water use. Water use from an unstressed, fully canopied sugarcane crop can be estimated from weather data using the FAO56 approach which relates crop evapotranspiration (ET_c) to grass reference evapotranspiration (ET_o) using a crop coefficient (K_c) (Allen et al., 1998). Values of K_c for fully canopied sugarcane range from 1.1 to 1.5, depending on climatic conditions, with a typical value of 1.25 (Allen et al., 1998, Inman-Bamber and McGlinchey, 2003). Actual ETc can also be estimated using the energy balance (e.g. Inman-Bamber and McGlinchey, 2003, Olivier et al., 2010), lysimetry (e.g. Thompson and Boyce, 1967, Olivier and Singels, 2012) or soil water balance (e.g. Singels et al., 2000, Rossler et al., 2013, Olivier et al., 2013) approach. A drawback of these methods is that the two components of ET_c, namely evaporation from the soil (E), and transpiration (T) from the crop canopy, cannot be separated.

Crop transpiration can be estimated by monitoring the flow rate of stem sap through heat balance techniques. This method has not been used as widely in sugarcane as in other crops. Chabot et al. (2002) used steady state heat balance sap flow measurements to estimate the contribution of a water table to sugarcane water use. They found that transpiration from sap flow measurements exceeded transpiration measured with a lysimeter by 13.5%. Chabot et al. (2005) found that sugarcane transpiration determined from sap flow exceeded reference evapotranspiration by 35% and ascribed this to errors associated with sap flow sensors as well as to the process of scaling up from stem level to canopy level. In this study stem sap flow per unit leaf area was scaled up to canopy level using leaf area index estimated from stem diameter. The sap flow technique was also used by Nassif and Marin (2013).

The aim of the study was to investigate the water relations of a high-fibre sugarcane hybrid under well watered and drought stress conditions, and compare it with that of a traditional sugarcane cultivar. This would help with gaining a better understanding of the underlying physiology of differences in water use and drought response between high-fibre and traditional sugarcane. It is hoped that this would help in deciding the feasibility of growing high-fibre sugarcane in marginal areas for bio-energy production.

The specific objectives were to estimate crop evaporation (referred to as transpiration) from sap flow measurements using the steady state heat balance method, and relate this to plant canopy characteristics (green leaf area, stomatal conductance and leaf water potential), atmospheric conditions (reference evapotranspiration and vapour pressure deficit) and soil water status. A secondary objective of the study was to quantify the potential productivity of the two genotypes under water stressed and well-watered conditions by recording biomass yield and water use efficiency over the growing period.

Section snippets

Experimental details

The study was conducted at the South African Sugarcane Research Institute (SASRI) rainshelter (29°42′40″S, 31°02′35″E). Two contrasting sugarcane genotypes (N19 a high sucrose cultivar, and 04G0073, a high-fibre sugarcane F1 hybrid chosen on limited crop performance yield data, from now on referred to as G73) were planted on October 2011 at 1.25 m row spacing. Fertiliser was applied according to standard recommendations to ensure nutrient sufficiency. The trial was divided into four plots (six

Weather

Weather conditions during the experiment are shown in Fig. 1. The mean minimum (T_min) and maximum temperatures (T_max) during the first stress period were 20.9 and 29 °C. During the second stress period, the mean T_min had decreased to 16.6 °C, while the mean T_max was 27 °C. T_min during the second stress period was lower than the optimum range for sugarcane growth (20 to 30 °C) reported by Inman-Bamber and Smith (2005). The mean ET₀ (ET₀ as defined by Allen and Pruitt, 1991) was 3.98 and 2.98 mm d⁻¹

Relationship between T_SAP and soil water supply and atmospheric demand

T_SAP of G73 was reduced below well-watered values when RASWC dropped below about 0.5 (Fig. 14). A similar analysis for N19 was not possible because T_SAP of the stressed treatment never fully recovered to that of well-watered values during the recovery period.

Fig. 15 shows the relationship between T_SAP and ET₀ for the control treatments. On average N19 transpired at rates of about 61% of ET₀, while G73 transpired at rates of about 71% of ET₀. Although this difference is not statistically

Conclusion

The study has shown that the heat balance method (constant heat source) of measuring sap flow velocity is a suitable technique for estimating transpiration in sugarcane under non-stressed conditions. The instrumentation was relatively easy to install and operate, over an extended time period, without damaging stalks or requiring frequent refitting. It produced consistent hourly estimates of sap flow in different stalks. When scaled up to a per unit area level, transpiration estimates of

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Yuriy Tsupko for the trial design, and the South African Sugarcane Research Institute Technical Team for measurement assistance. Prof. Mike Savage of the University of KwaZulu-Natal gave valuable advice on sap flow data processing. Aresti Paraskevopoulos assisted with the leaf area calculations.

References (62)

R. Chabot et al.
Sugarcane transpiration with shallow water table: sap flow measurements and modelling
Agric. Water Manage.
(2002)
R. Chabot et al.
Evaluation of the sap flow determined with a heat balance method to measure
Agric. Water Manage.
(2005)
S. De Vries et al.
Resource use efficiency and environmental performance of nine major biofuel crops, processed by first-generation conversion techniques
Biomass Bioenergy
(2010)
D.A. Grantz et al.
Regulation of transpiration in field-grown sugarcane. Evaluation of the stomatal response to humidity with the Bowen ratio technique
Agric. For. Meteorol.
(1991)
N.G. Inman-Bamber et al.
The reaction of two varieties of sugarcane to water stress
Field Crops Res.
(1986)
N.G. Inman-Bamber et al.
Crop coefficients and water-use estimates for sugarcane based on long-term Bowen ratio energy balance measurements
Field Crops Res.
(2003)
N.G. Inman-Bamber et al.
Water relations in sugarcane and response to water deficits
Field Crops Res.
(2005)
N.G. Inman-Bamber et al.
Sugarcane for water limited environments: theoretical assessment of suitable triats
Field Crops Res.
(2012)
P.G. Jarvis et al.
Stomatal control of transpiration: scaling up from leaf to region
Adv. Ecol. Res.
(1986)
B.A. Keating et al.
Modelling sugarcane production systems I. Development and performance of the sugarcane module
Field Crops Res.
(1999)

V.O. Sadras et al.

Soil–water thresholds for the responses of leaf expansion and gas exchange: a review

Field Crops Res.

(1996)

T.R. Sinclair et al.

Sugarcane leaf development under field conditions in Florida, USA

Field Crops Res.

(2004)

M.A. Smit et al.

The response of sugarcane canopy development to water stress

Field Crops Res.

(2006)

D.M. Smith et al.

Growth and function of the sugarcane root system

Field Crops Res.

(2005)

G.D. Thompson et al.

Daily measurements of potential evapotranspiration from fully canopied sugarcane

Agric. Meteorol.

(1967)

Y.A. Abayomi et al.

Effect of water stress on growth and biomass yield of contrasting genotypes of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum)

Ghana J. Agric. Sci.

(1998)

A.G. Alexander

The Energy Cane Alternative

(1985)

M.A. Ali et al.

Effect of water stresses on the growth features of different Maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars

Pak. J. Bot.

(1999)

R.G. Allen et al.

Crop evapotranspiration—guidelines for computing crop water requirements

FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56

(1998)

R.G. Allen et al.

FAO-24 reference evapotranspiration factors

J. Irrig. Drain. Eng.

(1991)

J.M. Baker et al.

Measurement of mass flow of water in the stems of herbaceous plants

Plant, Cell Environ.

(1987)

M.K. Begum et al.

Effect of water stress on physiological characters and juice quality of sugarcane

Sugar Tech.

(2012)

A. Blum

Crop responses to drought and the interpretation of adaptation

Plant Growth Regul.

(1996)

L. Canilha et al.

Bioconversion of sugarcane biomass into ethanol: an overview about composition, pre-treatment methods, detoxification of hydrolysates, enzymatic saccharification, and ethanol fermentation

J. Biomed. Biotechnol.

(2012)

M.M. Chaves et al.

Understanding plant responses to drought—from genes to the whole plant

Funct. Plant Biol.

(2003)

A.P. de Souza et al.

Composition and structure of sugarcane cell wall polysaccharides: implications for second-generation bioethanol production

Bioenerg. Res.

(2013)

M.O. Diasa et al.

Production of bioethanol and other bio-based materials from sugarcane bagasse: integration to conventional bioethanol production process

Chem. Eng. Res. Des.

(2009)

W. Gerbens-Leenes et al.

The water footprint of bioenergy

PNAS

(2009)

D.A. Grantz et al.

Effect of soil water deficit on stomatal behaviour in sugarcane

Br. Soc. Plant Growth Regul. Monogr.

(1990)

T.C. Hsiao

Plant responses to water stress

Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol.

(1973)

N.G. Inman-Bamber et al.

Effect of water stress on growth, leaf resistance and canopy temperature in field-grown sugarcane

Proc. S. Afr. Sug. Technol. Assoc.

(1986)

Cited by (17)

Aerial phenotyping for sugarcane yield and drought tolerance
2024, Field Crops Research
Sugarcane breeding is resource-intensive and time-consuming, and could benefit substantially from the integration of aerial phenotyping (AP) for rapidly identifying genotypes with superior yield traits. The study aimed to assess the feasibility of using AP to enhance sugarcane breeding by rapidly identifying genotypes with superior yield traits. The specific objectives of the study were to: (1) assess the impacts of canopy cover and stomatal conductance on stalk dry mass yield (SDM); (2) assess the feasibility of estimating these traits with aerially sensed normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and canopy temperature (Tc); (3) evaluate the potential for predicting SDM from NDVI and Tc; (4) formulate best AP procedures. The study comprised a replicated field trial near Komatipoort, South Africa, with 54 genotypes grown under well-watered and water deficit conditions. Traits were measured on the ground (canopy cover and stomatal conductance) and remotely sensed from the air with a drone (NDVI and Tc) throughout the plant and first ratoon crops, and SDM was measured at harvest. Measurements were categorized by crop water status and extent of canopy cover, and phenotypic trait correlations were analyzed for these different categories. The study confirmed canopy cover and stomatal conductance as influential traits for determining SDM. Canopy cover could be used as a proxy for identifying high- and low-yielding genotypes early on in water stress-free crops. Findings suggest that high stomatal conductance benefits well-watered crops, while relatively low conductance could be advantageous in dry environments, though further investigation is needed. Canopy cover was predicted well from NDVI at partial canopy for well-watered crops, while the prediction of stomatal conductance from Tc lacked reliability. It was concluded that NDVI and Tc could be used to identify high- and low-yielding genotypes when measured earlier on in the growth cycle for well-watered crops. Results also showed potential for using water treatment differences in Tc and SDM to identify drought tolerant genotypes. Lastly, the study highlighted methodological challenges and insights for future agronomic trait prediction using AP techniques. The findings of this study will be used in further testing in the early stages of the breeding programme along with the breeding populations, ultimately helping to manage breeding strategies for target environments. This has the potential to enhance breeding efficiency and ultimately genetic gains towards productive sugarcane cultivars for the future.
Drought stress tolerance mechanisms and breeding effort in sugarcane: A review of progress and constraints in South Africa
2021, Plant Stress
Citation Excerpt :
Drought tolerant sugarcane varieties have different stress tolerance/avoidance mechanisms, where varieties N41 and N26 strive under mild droughts. N12 rolls its leaves to minimize its leaf surface area and N19 closes leaf stomata and stop growing until the soil moisture content is optimal again (Eksteen et al., 2014; Snyman et al., 2016). Sugarcane roots grow laterally in moist soils, but when the soils have low soil moisture content, roots grow deep and do not spread evenly (Waraich et al., 2011).
Drought stress is a major cause of yield losses in sugarcane production and the frequency of its occurrence in several regions is expected to increase due to climate change. Despite the advancements in conventional breeding and transformation technology, developing sugarcane for drought tolerance remains a major challenge. This is not only due to the complexity of the sugarcane genome but also due to the complexity of the plant responses to water deficit and the difficulty of identifying physiological and morphological traits that can be used for the selection of drought-tolerant varieties suitable for commercial production. This review paper integrates literature on our current understanding of the biological effects of drought stress on sugarcane growth in a way that bridges the signalling networks with physiological and genetical defence mechanisms. Special emphases are given to the technical challenges and prospects associated with the practical application of various breeding techniques used for sugarcane improvement in South Africa such as conventional breeding, transgenic approach and ethyl methanesulfonate induced mutations.
Energy conversion efficiency in sugarcane cultivars as a function of production environments in Brazil
2021, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
Citation Excerpt :
One of the causes of the great variation in the sugarcane yield is due to differences in conversion of solar energy efficiency into biomass in the different production environments. Increasing the energy conversion efficiency in sugarcane is one of the strategies aimed for increasing productive potential [5–7]. While these issues are addressed for a long time, they remain not fully answered yet [8–10], being presented in the literature values ranging from 1 to 10%, and for species C4 the theoretical efficiency of converting solar energy into phyto-energy is around 6% [11], but that in the field, under real cultivation conditions, this value can vary from 2.2 to 4.5% [8,12].
Energy production needs to increase in order to meet population and industrial growth in the coming decades, and clean energy that promotes the reduction of polluting gases in the atmosphere is required. Sugarcane is a crop with great potential for bioenergy production due to its high potential for converting solar energy into biomass. In this context, the questions arise: What is the real efficiency of conversion solar energy into biomass by sugarcane? How can the production environment and genetic diversity influence this process? In this sense, the objective of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of the conversion of solar energy into biomass, as well the available energy per hectare, and the productivity of stalks as a function of the production environment in different cultivars. The experiments were carried out in two production environments in Brazil, Prado Ferreira, Paraná State (Production Environment A) and Presidente Bernardes, São Paulo State (Production Environment C) and with three sugarcane cultivars SP80-3280, RB855156 and RB867515 in two cultivation cycles. This study showed: a) the production environment × genotype interaction causes 75.80% variation in stalk productivity; b) biomass productivity is less affected by water deficit than stalk productivity; c) the energy conversion efficiency (ECE) ranged from 2.80 to 4.54% in plant cane and 2.10–3.87% in ratoon cane cycles. The variation of ECE in the production environments was due to four main factors: greater water availability, soil fertility, air temperature and solar radiation.
Field sugarcane transpiration based on sap flow measurements and root water uptake simulations: Case study on Tanegashima Island, Japan
2021, Agricultural Water Management
Citation Excerpt :
To the best of our knowledge, field research on sugarcane transpiration in these regions has not been reported. Despite many studies on ET in sugarcane fields (Cabral et al., 2012; Hiyane et al., 2004), field sugarcane transpiration has rarely been reported (Chabot et al., 2005; Nassif et al., 2014) because of the difficulties in accurate direct measurements of transpiration and in separate evaluation of ET as evaporation and transpiration under actual field conditions (Bastidas-Obando et al., 2017; Eksteen et al., 2014; Kool et al., 2014; Qiu et al., 1999; Rafi et al., 2019). Previous studies on the partitioning of ET into soil surface evaporation (E) and crop transpiration (T) suggest that E accounts for 20–40% of ET in crops such as corn, cotton, wheat, and sorghum; E/ET can be large for the initial crop development stage (Kool et al., 2014).
In agriculture, soil evaporation is considered a loss of water, and crop transpiration is a crucial factor affecting crop growth and yield. Although there have been numerous studies on evapotranspiration (ET) on farmland, only a few have been conducted on field crop transpiration because of the difficulties in the direct measurement of transpiration and in separate evaluation of evaporation and transpiration under field conditions. In this study, we used the heat-pulse method to measure the sap velocity in sugarcane stems to evaluate field transpiration during summer at the study site on Tanegashima Island (at about 31° N) in Japan. The reference crop ET was determined by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Penman–Monteith method from on-site meteorological data and was compared with the measured transpiration. The daily transpiration in August ranged from 3.3 mm d⁻¹ to 6.6 mm d⁻¹; the corresponding sap flow varied from 0.27 L d⁻¹ to 0.55 L d⁻¹ per stalk. The daily analysis of ET showed that a standard value of 1.25 for the crop coefficient presented by the FAO is acceptable as the crop coefficient for the mid-season growth stage of sugarcane in the study site. Numerical simulations of Richards equation with the sink term were conducted to examine the response of root water uptake to atmospheric transpiration demand throughout 20 consecutive clear and dry days in August. The decrease in the soil moisture in the root zone depends on the transpiration demand during daytime, and soil moisture is redistributed and recovered during the nighttime. The hourly numerical results in August support a standard value of 1.20 for the basal crop coefficient in the mid-season growth stage, as proposed by FAO. The simulations showed that roots extract water preferentially from the deep and wet soil layers to meet the transpiration demand; transpiration predicted from the sink term agreed well with the actual transpiration measured by the heat-pulse method. Therefore, the numerical analysis of soil moisture dynamics under the atmospheric transpiration demand based on the reference crop ET can be an effective tool to evaluate field sugarcane water consumption.
Sugarcane
2020, Crop Physiology Case Histories for Major Crops
Sugarcane is a perennial crop grown widely in tropical and subtropical regions of the world to provide food (sucrose), bio-ethanol and electricity. This chapter summarises the state of physiological knowledge of the development and growth processes of the sugarcane crop. The control of these processes by environmental, genetic, and agronomic factors is discussed, with the emphasis on the role of capture and efficiency in the use of radiation and water in achieving high yields. Opportunities for using crop physiological knowledge in breeding and agronomy to achieve higher crop productivity, more efficient use of resources, and reduced environmental impacts, are explored. Recent advances in increasing early growth vigour and resource capture through agronomic practices and crop improvement are assessed. The role of leaf-level traits such as stomatal conductance and transpiration efficiency in determining crop yields in different environments is discussed, and the feasibility of high throughput phenotyping for these traits to support breeding is assessed. The physiology of sucrose accumulation is summarised, and opportunities and limitations for increasing sucrose yields are discussed. Climate change studies pertaining to sugarcane across the world are summarised, and the likely impacts on resource capture and efficiency of use analysed. Research gaps that need attention to overcome current and future limitations and challenges are identified and discussed.
agriwater: An R package for spatial modelling of energy balance and actual evapotranspiration using satellite images and agrometeorological data
2019, Environmental Modelling and Software
Aiming to subsidize the rational water resources management, an R package called “agriwater” was created in order to obtain the energy balance on the soil and actual evapotranspiration using satellite imagery and agrometeorological data. This package apply the Simple Algorithm for Evapotranspiration Retrieving - SAFER to calculate the evapotranspiration fraction $E T_{r}$ (or $E T_{A}$ $E T_{0}$ ⁻¹), actual evapotranspiration ( $E T_{A}$ ) and latent heat flux (λE); the Slob equation calculate the net radiation ( $R_{N}$ ); ground heat flux (G) is modeled from $R_{N}$ ; and the sensible heat flux (H) is retrieved as the residue of the energy balance equation. Landsat-8 (with and without thermal bands), Sentinel-2 and MODIS digital images can be used. Results are presented in raster format and can be post-processed by GIS analysis or anothers R procedures. A study case using Sentinel-2 images and agrometeorological data of a semiarid area from Brazil was performed. The requirements and conditions for use of the package are explained.

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

Water relations of two contrasting sugarcane genotypes

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Experimental details

Weather

Relationship between TSAP and soil water supply and atmospheric demand

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Agric. Water Manage.

Agric. Water Manage.

Biomass Bioenergy

Agric. For. Meteorol.

Field Crops Res.

Field Crops Res.

Field Crops Res.

Field Crops Res.

Adv. Ecol. Res.

Field Crops Res.

Field Crops Res.

Field Crops Res.

Field Crops Res.

Field Crops Res.

Agric. Meteorol.

Effect of water stress on growth and biomass yield of contrasting genotypes of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum)

Ghana J. Agric. Sci.

The Energy Cane Alternative

Effect of water stresses on the growth features of different Maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars

Pak. J. Bot.

Crop evapotranspiration—guidelines for computing crop water requirements

FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56

FAO-24 reference evapotranspiration factors

J. Irrig. Drain. Eng.

Measurement of mass flow of water in the stems of herbaceous plants

Plant, Cell Environ.

Effect of water stress on physiological characters and juice quality of sugarcane

Sugar Tech.

Crop responses to drought and the interpretation of adaptation

Plant Growth Regul.

Bioconversion of sugarcane biomass into ethanol: an overview about composition, pre-treatment methods, detoxification of hydrolysates, enzymatic saccharification, and ethanol fermentation

J. Biomed. Biotechnol.

Understanding plant responses to drought—from genes to the whole plant

Funct. Plant Biol.

Composition and structure of sugarcane cell wall polysaccharides: implications for second-generation bioethanol production

Bioenerg. Res.

Production of bioethanol and other bio-based materials from sugarcane bagasse: integration to conventional bioethanol production process

Chem. Eng. Res. Des.

The water footprint of bioenergy

PNAS

Effect of soil water deficit on stomatal behaviour in sugarcane

Br. Soc. Plant Growth Regul. Monogr.

Plant responses to water stress

Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol.

Effect of water stress on growth, leaf resistance and canopy temperature in field-grown sugarcane

Proc. S. Afr. Sug. Technol. Assoc.

Relationship between T_SAP and soil water supply and atmospheric demand