Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The roles of nitrogen, phosphorus and Potassium in the production of sugarcane in South Africa

  • Published:
Fertilizer research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The amounts of N and K fertilizers used in the South African sugar industry have increased dramatically in the past four decades, due partly to an increase in the area under sugarcane but also to large increases in the amounts of N and K fertilizers applied per hectare. There has also been an increase in the amount of P fertilizer used but this has been more gradual. The main fertilizer carriers for cane and their relative efficiency are discussed. During this period there has been considerable research into the nutrient requirements of sugarcane. Correlations established between soil and leaf analysis and crop responses to N, P and K fertilizers, and their effects on cane quality, are reviewed. While fertilizer recommendations based on soil and leaf analysis have provided a useful guide for determining the nutrient requirements of cane, they are continually being modified in the light of current research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Anon (1960) A Rep Exp Stn S Afr Sug Ass 1959/60: 18–22

  2. Anon (1983) A Rep Exp Stn S Afr Sug Ass 1982/83: 9

  3. Anon (1984) Identification of the soils of the sugar industry. Exp Stn S Afr Sug Ass Bull No. 19 (revised)

  4. Anon (1989) A Rep Exp Stn S Afr Sug Ass 1988/89: 20

  5. Bishop RT (1965) Improved tissue diagnostic techniques for sugarcane. Unpublished MSc thesis. Univ of Natal

  6. Donaldson RA, Meyer JH and Wood RA (1990) Response to potassium by sugarcane grown on base saturated clay soils in the Eastern Transvaal lowveld. Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass 64: in press

  7. Du Toit JL (1957) Fertilizer responses as revealed by the 3 × 3 × 3 fertilizer exploratory trials. Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass: 31: 129–134

    Google Scholar 

  8. Du Toit JL (1959) Recent advances in the nutrition of sugarcane in South Africa. Proc int Soc Sug Cane Technol 10: 432–441

    Google Scholar 

  9. Du Toit JL (1967) The use and efficacy of different forms of nitrogen in sugarcane. A review. S Afr Sug J 51: 213–227

    Google Scholar 

  10. Du Toit JL, Beater BE and Maud RR (1962) Available soil phosphate and yield responses in sugarcane. Proc int Soc Sug Cane Technol 11: 101–111

    Google Scholar 

  11. Meyer JH (1974) P fixation. A growth limiting factor in some soils of the South African sugar industry. Proc int Soc Sug Cane Technol 15: 586–600

    Google Scholar 

  12. Meyer JH (1980) The role of phosphorus in the production of sugarcane in South Africa. Phosphorus in Agric 78: 23–32

    Google Scholar 

  13. Meyer JH (1981) An evaluation of DRIS based on leaf analysis for sugarcane in South Africa. Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass 55: 169–176

    Google Scholar 

  14. Meyer JH and Dicks EN (1979) The results of P fertilizer trials conducted in the Natal Midlands. Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass 53: 182–188

    Google Scholar 

  15. Meyer JH and Wood RA (1984) Leaf tissue analysis as a diagnostic technique for determining the nitrogen status of sugarcane. Proc Nitrogen Symp May 1982 Pretoria, South Africa: 49–54

  16. Meyer JH and Wood RA (1985) Potassium nutrition of sugarcane in the South African sugar industry. Proc Potassium Symp October 1985 Pretoria, South Africa: 205–213

  17. Meyer JH and Wood RA (1989) Factors affecting phosphorus nutrition and fertilizer usage of sugarcane in South Africa. Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass 63: 153–158

    Google Scholar 

  18. Meyer JH, Wood RA, McIntyre RK and Leibbrandt NB (1983) Classifying soils of the South African sugar industry on the basis of their N mineralizing capacities and organic matter content. Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass 57: 151–158

    Google Scholar 

  19. Meyer JH, Wood RA and Leibbrandt NB (1986) Recent advances in determining the N requirement of sugarcane in the South African sugar industry. Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass 60: 205–211

    Google Scholar 

  20. Meyer JH, Wood RA and Harding RL (1989) Fertility trends in the South African sugar industry. Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass 63: 159–163

    Google Scholar 

  21. Moberly PK (1982) Nutrient requirements of irrigated sugarcane grown on soils of the Hutton form at Pongola. Crop Production XI: 125–129

    Google Scholar 

  22. Moberly PK and Meyer JH (1978) Filtercake. A field and glasshouse evaluation. Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass 52: 131–136

    Google Scholar 

  23. Moberly PK and Meyer JH (1984) Soils. A management factor in sugarcane production in the South African sugar industry. Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass 58: 192–196

    Google Scholar 

  24. Moberly PK, Wood RA, Meyer JH, Leibbrandt NB and McIntyre RK (1984) Soil: an important factor to consider when making N recommendations for sugarcane. Proc Nitrogen Symp May 1982 Pretoria, South Africa: 10–12

  25. Ranwell JF (1988) Trends in fertilizer consumption in South Africa. Fert Soc S Afr unpublished paper

  26. Reeve NG and Sumner ME (1970) Effects of aluminium toxicity and phosphorus fixation on crop growth of Oxisols in Natal. Soil Sci Soc Am Proc 34: 264–267

    Google Scholar 

  27. Sparks DL, Zelazny LW and Martens DC (1980) Kinetics of potassium desorption in soil using miscible displacement. Soil Sci Soc Am J 44: 1205–1208

    Google Scholar 

  28. Stewart MJ (1969) Potassium and sugarcane. A review. S Afr Sug J 53: 108–121

    Google Scholar 

  29. Thompson GD (1987) Fertilizer requirements and use in the South African sugar industry. Fertil Rev 1: 10–14

    Google Scholar 

  30. Thompson GD (1988) The composition of plant and ratoon crops of variety N14 at Pongola. Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass 62: 185–189

    Google Scholar 

  31. Wood GH (1962) Some factors influencing starch in sugarcane. Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass 36: 123–135

    Google Scholar 

  32. Wood RA (1964) Assessing the potential of sugar belt soils to supply nitrogen for plant cane. Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass 38: 176–179

    Google Scholar 

  33. Wood RA (1964) Analogous nitrogen mineralization effects produced by soils under grass leys and sugarcane. Trans 8th int Congr Soil Sci Bucharest 4: 255–260

    Google Scholar 

  34. Wood RA (1968) Nitrogen fertilizer use for sugarcane. S Afr Sug J 52: 225–241, 331–339

    Google Scholar 

  35. Wood RA (1974) The effect of time of application on the utilization of fertilizer nitrogen by plant cane. Proc int Soc Sug Cane Technol 15: 618–629

    Google Scholar 

  36. Wood RA (1982) Nutrition and cane quality. Unpub pap S Afr Sug Agron Ass

  37. Wood RA (1985) Potassium availability in sugarbelt soils as measured by EUF and other extraction procedures. Proc Potassium Symp, October 1985, Pretoria, South Africa 35–41

  38. Wood RA (1987) The basis of fertilizer recommendations for the South African sugar industry. Sugarcane 1987 2: 10–15

    Google Scholar 

  39. Wood RA and Burrows JR (1980) Potassium availability in soils of the South African sugar belt. Proc int Soc Sug Cane Technol 17: 182–195

    Google Scholar 

  40. Wood RA and Meyer JH (1986) Factors affecting potassium nutrition of sugarcane in South Africa. Proc S Afr Sug Technol Ass 60: 198–204

    Google Scholar 

  41. Wood RA, Meyer JH and Govender M (1985) A rapid system of cane leaf analysis using X-ray spectrometry and infra-red reflectance. Proc S Afr Sug Techol Ass 59: 195–201

    Google Scholar 

  42. Wyatt R (1968) Phosphate fertilizer carriers for sugarcane. S Afr Sug J 52: 417–429

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. South African Sugar Association Experiment Station, 4300, Mount Edgecombe, South Africa

    R. A. Wood

Authors
  1. R. A. Wood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wood, R.A. The roles of nitrogen, phosphorus and Potassium in the production of sugarcane in South Africa. Fertilizer Research 26, 89–98 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01048746

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01048746

Key words

Search

Navigation