FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE QUALITY OF SUGARCANE .2. MANAGEMENT-PRACTICES

This is the second half of a survey of the factors that influence cane quality, covering those which are susceptible to management control, The most important are: non-homogeneous stands of cane, harvesting ove r-age cane, prolonged ''kill-to-mill'' intervals, and excessive extran eous matter. Heterogeneous cane can have 30% less sugar content than g ood sound cane, Delaying harvest looses about one third of a unit of r endement per month of over-age, The rate of loss of sugar during the ' 'kill-to-kill'' interval is strongly influenced by temperature, but av erages about 4% of the sugar originally available per day. From 0.125 to 0.25 units of rendement are lost per one-percent of extraneous matt er. Correct variety selection and fertilizer application are of fundam ental importance, but are reasonably well implemented in most establis hed industries.