Section 2 - Sugar Research and Development Corporation

The total area planted using zonal tillage
increased from 30 ha in 2007 to 2500 ha in 2009
and the number of growers adopting the practice
increased from fi ve in 2007 to 100 in 2009.
Trial data showed that all cultivation treatment
produced good yields in the right conditions
with similar yields being attained with all
treatments over a range of trial sites and a
saving of $400/ha made.
The economic benefi t of the system comes
through maintaining cane yields while reducing
input costs (BSS306).
SmutBuster: Accelerated breeding of smutresistant
sugarcane varieties
The SmutBuster project uses high breeding value
parental germplasm with susceptible reaction
to smut to provide a wider choice of more
productive smut-resistant cane varieties.
More productive varieties require less resource
inputs and plough-out resulting in positive
environmental and social benefi ts.
SmutBuster should also improve the rate
of genetic gain for tonnes sugar/ha/year
The shorter parent generation interval practised
in SmutBuster will dramatically increase the
frequency of smut resistant genes in the parent
populations.
The SmutBuster selection program is only
mid-way to completion and no commercial
sugarcane varieties have been released within the
time-frame of this project. The fi rst commercial
varieties from SmutBuster are expected to be
released to the industry in 2016 (BSS325).
Integrated nutgrass control in NSW
Nutgrass is a particular problem in the cane
growing areas of northern NSW causing poor
germination and reduced growth of young
plants and ratoon crops. Previous attempts to
control outbreaks were ad hoc with no structured
package available for satisfactory control.
REGIONAL FUTURES
The trial work and economic analysis of this
project showed a substantial economic benefi t
for growers was achievable from controlling
nutgrass in cane by adopting a long-term
integrated approach to reduce the number
of viable tubers.
A publication, ‘Managing Nutgrass in Cane’,
was produced for growers (NFS002).
Harnessing soil biology to improve the
productivity of the new sugarcane farming
system
This project addressed how management affects
soil biological processes. The fi rst project phase
assessed how the ‘new sugarcane farming
system’ (reduced tillage, legume break crop,
trash blanketing, and reduced nitrogen (N)
fertiliser application), impacts on N cycling
and soil biological processes.
Sugarcane soils in north and southern
Queensland, including the Yield Decline Joint
Venture site in Ingham and two commercial
farms with contrasting management practices
in Bundaberg, were used for this research.
A special focus was the development and
application of novel molecular techniques
to monitor soil microbial function for analysis
of soil processes.
Outcomes of the technical advances are that
comprehensive analysis of microbial function
is possible for unprecedented insight into soil
biological processes. The results show that
management affects soil microbial biomass
as well as composition and function of the
microbial community. However, the identifi ed
differences between farming systems were
mostly short-lived and had little or no effect on
the overall availability of N, N cycling, N losses
and sugarcane yield. The fi ndings support the
notion that lower N input is not detrimental to
sugarcane yield but may reduce environmental
impacts. The results also show that additional
improvements of the new farming system are
necessary to synchronise N availability and crop
N demand. Production of mobile forms of N,
especially nitrate, but also the generation of
greenhouse gases, have to be improved.
SRDC Annual Report 2010–2011 53