Effects of fertilizer rate and planting density on yield and its components of GT29

【Objective】The present research was conducted to determine the optimal fertilizer rate and planting densi- ty of a new sugarcane variety GT29 to provide references for extending this variety in sugarcane production. 【Method】 Split-plot experiment with two factors (fertilizer rate and planting density) was designed to investigate sugarcane agronomic traits, such as total number of seedlings, number of millable stalks, plant height, stalk diameter, sucrose content, yield, at etc., for analyzing the effects of 3 fertilizer rates (2250, 3750 and 5250 kg/ha) and 4 planting densities (7.5×10 4 , 9.0×10 4 , 10.5×10 4 and 12×10 4 buds/ha) on sugarcane yield and its components. 【Result】Sugarcane yield reached the highest (95.34 t/ha) at the fertilizer rate of 2250 kg/ha and planting density of 90,000 buds/ha; plant height was the tallest (209 cm) at the fertilizer rate of 3750 kg/ha and plant density of 75000 buds/ha, which was significantly higher than that at the fertilizer rate of 5250 kg/ha and plant density of 105000 buds/ha (193 cm). No significant difference in yield, tillering rate, stalk diameter, and sucrose content was found among different treatments, while sugarcane yield was positively correlated with number of millable stalks per unit area. 【Conclusion】For GT29, the optimum fertilizer rate was N 260 kg/ha,P 2 O 5 130 kg/ha,K 2 O 150 kg/ha (N∶P 2 O 5 ∶K 2 O=12∶6∶7), and the optimum planting density was 90000 buds/ha.