Greetings to all our stakeholders as we transition through spring to the summer season with hopes of good rainfall in many of our sugarcane growing areas. Under such conditions, ground cover becomes important, particularly for recently harvested fields that may be exposed to water runoff, with potential soil erosion. Soil condition and health are critical to sustainable sugarcane production, hence the need to ensure the soils are not entirely exposed to excessive water runoff.

In as much as soil health is critical for good sugarcane yields, weed management is important for soil crop nutrient flow. Agriculture production has typically been secured through effective weed management, often with agrochemical applications.

Recently growers expressed concern about the extensive flowering of sugarcane in many rainfed fields. This is not a new phenomenon and has been studied by various teams throughout the world. Concern has largely been on the likely impact on sucrose accumulation. It is important to note that many factors influence flowering that also affect sucrose yield, such as genotype, crop age, photoperiod, temperature and drought stress. In this edition, we address these concerns with an article focusing on “Varietal differences in flowering”.

We hope that, as you read the various articles within this publication, the information and knowledge will enable sustainable production and better productivity, with better management practices. In this edition, a brief focus is presented on how SASRI engages with small-scale growers to improve knowledge and understanding of soil data combined with variety performance information for decision making. Among other topics, we also present articles dealing with sugarcane diseases (smut and sour rot) and guidelines to follow when burning sugarcane at harvest, along with “Topical Tips” for all our readers.

It is our considered view that you will enjoy reading and find the articles useful for your decision making in managing the sugarcane crop.