Cultivation of sugarcane for bioethanol is increasing and the area under sugarcane is expanding. Much of the sugar for bioethanol comes from large plantations where it is grown with relatively high inputs. Sugarcane puts a high demands on the soil because of the use of heavy machinery and because large amounts of nutrients are removed with the harvest; biocides and inorganic fertilizers introdu...

Modern agriculture is based on the notion that nitrate is the main source of nitrogen (N) for crops, but nitrate is also the most mobile form of N and easily lost from soil. Efficient acquisition of nitrate by crops is therefore a prerequisite for avoiding off-site N pollution. Sugarcane is considered the most suitable tropical crop for biofuel production, but surprisingly high N fertilizer app...

The expansion of sugarcane monoculture in Brazil in the last decades has pointed out to the necessity of considering the question of sugarcane cutters occupational health. In this work we present a cross-sectional study aiming to examine the occupational posture of a group of sugarcane cutters, which work in a cane field located in the region of Pontal do Paranapanema- SP, Brazil. The study was...

Brazilian sugarcane has been shown to obtain part of its nitrogen via biological nitrogen fixation (BNF). Recent reports, based on the culture independent sequencing of bacterial nifH complementary DNA (cDNA) from sugarcane tissues, have suggested that members of the Bradyrhizobium genus could play a role in sugarcane-associated BNF. Here we report on the isolation of Bradyrhizobium spp. isolat...

In Indian economy sugarcane has great contribution to GDP. A large population of India depends on the agriculture sector for livelihood. At, the same time, due to expanding population , diminishing arable land and rising service industry, there is need to increase the production by utilizing the available agriculture resources. This paper represents a linear goal programming model for sugarcane...

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is a multi-purpose crop, mainly planted in South-western (SW) parts of Iran. However, the capability of sugarcane farms to sequestrate carbon into soil and plant is not well documented. In this research, the carbon sequestration in sugarcane plant and soil in a ratooning traditional cultivation system at the Amirkabir Sugarcane Agro-Industry Complex...

The Mexican rice borer, Eoreuma loftini (Dyar) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is an invasive species that originated from Mexico, and it is threatening to cause major economic losses to sugarcane, Saccharum spp., and rice, Oryza sativa L., industries in Louisiana. The insect is expected to reach sugarcane and riceproduction areas inLouisianaby2008, and infest all ofLouisiana sugarcane and rice indus...

BACKGROUND Both sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) are members of the Andropogoneae tribe in the Poaceae and are each other's closest relatives amongst cultivated plants. Both are relatively recent domesticates and comparatively little of the genetic potential of these taxa and their wild relatives has been captured by breeding programmes to date. This review assess...

The South African Sugar Association Experiment Station, Agricultural Engineering Department conducted a series of semi-mechanised versus fully mechanised harvesting trials on a large commercial estate in Swaziland over the 1998/1999, 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 seasons. During the trials machinery performance was measured, differences in the quality of cane delivered to the factory were determined,...

Structural instability caused by self exciting aerodynamic forces (flutter) can be used as an effective input source for small scale energy harvesters. The self exciting aerodynamic force exerted on a T-shape cantilever causes periodic vibration, which can be converted into electric power through an electromagnetic transducer. Due to the complexities inherent in the fluid-structure interaction ...