There is a natural phenomenon in the sugarcane cycle in which the plant reproduces, called flowering. Flowering occurs when the apical bud of the plant changes from being vegetative to reproductive, that is, sugarcane ceases to produce leaves and stalks, and becomes the flowers (inflorescence).
Access our reports on sugarcane flowering here.
This “energy” that the plant spends to flowering is consumed in the form of sucrose, causing stem water loss, a process called isoporization, which reduces the plant’s agricultural yield and makes it difficult to extract Total Recoverable Sugars (TRS).
Picture 1: Record of flowering in the state of São Paulo occurred in the 2011/12 crop.
Source: DATAGRO Crop Survey
Besides from sugarcane variety, four climate variables influence flowering: photoperiod, temperature, precipitation and solar radiation.
The photoperiod is the duration of the day, and is used to determine when the critical period for flowering occurs, called the floral induction period, from which the other three climate variables are analyzed. This period is related to the latitude of the place: in the Center-South Region occurs between 25th February and 20th March.
For flowering to occur the other three climate variables must be favorable simultaneously, in which: the temperature must have low amplitude, the precipitation must be greater than 200 mm and the solar radiation must be low for at least 10 days.
As an important factor for sugarcane yield, DATAGRO monitors every beginning of the crop whether or not flowering will occur in the Center-South Region.
As an example, follow the surveys carried out in 2011 for the Ribeirao Preto region, year marked by the high flowering rate in practically all the Center-South Region.
Thermal Amplitude (°C)
Graph 1.Thermal amplitude in the floral induction period in Ribeirao Preto (2011).
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Precipitation (mm)
Graph 2. Total precipitation of 396.9 mm during the period of floral induction in Ribeirao Preto (2011).
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Solar Radiation (MJ.m-2)
Graph 3. Solar radiation during the floral induction period in Ribeirao Preto (2011).