Technical Series Number 23, November 1997
In Colombia, sugarcane has traditionally been planted manually; however, this system has been improved in recent years. In the past, the whole cane was placed at the bottom of the furrow and then cut into pieces and covered manually. Today, however, planting is done with 60 cm pieces that are previously cut and once placed at the bottom of the furrow, they are covered with soil using machinery. All the sugar mills and sugarcane growers in the Cauca River valley use this system, using packages of 30 pieces distributed in sections measuring between 8 and 18 m and in furrows spaced between 1.35 and 1.75 m apart.
For the rapid multiplication of sugarcane varieties, desuckering is frequently used. This technology was developed by Cassalett and López (1984) in CENICAÑA and used commercially in the Manuelita Sugar Mill by Gómez and Piza (1992). It consists of dismembering vines between 2 and 4 months old to obtain between 5 and 10 shoots from each one, which are transplanted in the field at a distance of 1 m. Another methodology is known as cuttings, through which seedlings are produced in plastic bags in a nursery from 5 cm long pieces of sugarcane that have a bud. When these germinate, they are used for manual replanting of the larger empty spaces.
1.75 m that occur in sugarcane fields. The third methodology is the obtaining of seedlings through in vitro multiplication, which in addition to serving to eliminate pathogens by thermotherapy, allows for rapid multiplication of the material (Victoria and Calderón, 1995).
The last two seedling production systems present, among other advantages, a high rate of seed multiplication with excellent health, because they allow improving the efficiency and coverage of the thermal treatment for the control of rickets of the soca (Clavibacter xyli Subs. xyli) and leaf scald (Xanthomonas albilineans). As an additional benefit, these systems allow the desired varieties to be kept in the nursery, which are available for sowing when they are required, or can eventually be used to replant plots.
