Academic literature on the topic 'Sugarcane – Zimbabwe'

AbstractSeedlings of 462 sorghum lines were screened to identify resistance to the sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner). About 7% of the lines exhibited resistance in the seedling stage in greenhouse trials. In an advanced screening experiment, 12 sorghum lines had resistance ratings of 1.0–3.0 (highly resistant or resistant). In a similar test, older and larger plants of the same lines were as resistant as in the seedling stage. Lines IS12664C, IS12609C, IS12158C, and IS12661C were highly resistant in preliminary and advanced screening trials. Antixenosis was shown to be a mechanism of resistance. Sorghum lines IS12664C, IS1144C, IS1598C, and IS12661C were less preferred than ‘Mtode’, a susceptible sorghum. Based on greenhouse and field trials, antibiosis adversely affected aphid longevity, days reproducing, and progeny production. On the least antibiotic sorghums, longevity, days reproducing, and number of nymphs produced were as high as 13.7, 6.0, and 26.6, respectively. On the most antibiotic sorghums, these values were 4.5, 0.0, and 0.0. Resistance appeared to be controlled by a dominant gene, but there were indications of modifiers linked to major genes.

Two different inoculation techniques were investigated before studying the reaction of the major rust resistance gene of sugarcane cultivar R 570 against isolates of Puccinia melanocephala from different geographic locations. Cultivar R 570 exhibited severe rust symptoms when in vitro plantlets were inoculated with a rust isolate from Réunion Island, but a good correlation with field resistance was observed when detached leaves were inoculated with the pathogen. This latter technique was then used to inoculate R 570 and a sample of its self progeny with rust isolates from Brazil, Colombia, Florida (three isolates), Guadeloupe, Réunion Island, and Zimbabwe. R 570 was resistant to all isolates of P. melanocephala, and the segregation of resistance in the progeny did not change with the isolates, suggesting that a single gene, or a single chromosomic region, was involved in the resistance against all tested isolates. This major resistance gene has, therefore, potential value to improve resistance to rust in various geographic regions.

Abstract. The management and allocation of water from multi-reservoir systems is complex and thus requires dynamic modelling systems to achieve optimality. A multi-reservoir system in the Southern Lowveld of Zimbabwe is used for irrigation of sugarcane estates that produce sugar for both local and export consumption. The system is burdened with water allocation problems, made worse by decommissioning of dams. Thus the aim of this research was to develop an operating policy model for the Lowveld multi-reservoir system.The Mann Kendall Trend and Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests were used to assess the variability of historic monthly rainfall and dam inflows for the period 1899–2015. The WEAP model was set up to evaluate the water allocation system of the catchment and come-up with a reference scenario for the 2015/2016 hydrologic year. Stochastic Dynamic Programming approach was used for optimisation of the multi-reservoirs releases.Results showed no significant trend in the rainfall but a significantly decreasing trend in inflows (p < 0.05). The water allocation model (WEAP) showed significant deficits ( ∼ 40 %) in irrigation water allocation in the reference scenario. The optimal rule curves for all the twelve months for each reservoir were obtained and considered to be a proper guideline for solving multi- reservoir management problems within the catchment. The rule curves are effective tools in guiding decision makers in the release of water without emptying the reservoirs but at the same time satisfying the demands based on the inflow, initial storage and end of month storage.

The paper reports on the assessment of the use of bagasse for cogeneration purposes at Hippo Valley Estates (HVE), a sugar manufacturing company in Zimbabwe. Much emphasis was on an assessment of the quantity of energy that was lost due to inefficient combustion of bagasse and the use of steam that was generated. The study investigated the quantity of sugar cane processed and the possible corresponding steam produced; the sugarcane processed was found to be approximately 2.33 million tons per annum and the steam produced was 193.1 tons per hour. The steam was used in the process department as well as to drive mills. The excess steam generated was found to be 81.03 tons per hour. Economic analysis on the use of excess steam to produce extra power for sale to the utility company was also undertaken. It was established that the power plant for the company could generate an annual surplus of US2.8Million as revenue, and the payback period was found to be 3.3 years. The sensitivity analysis of the project indicated that the electricity prices as well as the energy produced were the most sensitive areas in the project. The other inputs such as operations and maintenance costs, interest, capital investment and number of years were not as sensitive as the price and the energy.

The effects of irrigation-induced salinity and/or sodicity on sugarcane yield, and two growth parameters, namely stalk height and number of nodes per stalk , were investigated on a sugarcane estate in the Zimbabwean lowveld. The effects of soil salinity and/or sodicity on the size, activity and metabolic efficiency of the soil microbial community was also studied. Furrow-irrigated fields which had a gradient in soil salinity and/or sodicity which increased from the upper to lower ends of the fields were selected for this study. This gradient was recognized by decreasing sugarcane growth down from the upper to the lower ends and the appearance of salt on the soil surface at the lower ends of fields. Sugarcane growth was classified as either dead, poor, satisfactory or good; and soil samples (0-0 .15 m, 0.15-0 .3 m, 0.3-0 .6 m and 0.6-0.9 m) were taken from each of these areas. Soils from under adjacent areas of undisturbed veld were also sampled. Sugarcane growth and yields in micro-plots of the various areas of the fields were measured. Foliar samples of sugarcane were taken at 22 weeks of age and analysed for nutrient content. Soil salinity and sodicity were quantified by measuring pH(water), electrical conductivity (ECe) and cation content of saturation paste extracts and the exchangeable cation content. From this information, the sodium adsorption ratio (SARe)and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) were also calculated. The calcareous, vertic soils in the study area under undisturbed veld were found to have high pH values (8 to 9.5), very high exchangeable Ca and Mg concentrations and there was evidence of accumulation of soluble salts in the surface 0.15 m. Under sugarcane production, irrigation induced salinity and sodicity had developed. Under poor and dead sugarcane, high values for ECe, SARe, and ESP were generally encountered in the surface 0-0 .3 m of the profile. In addition, the pH values under sugarcane were often between 9 and 10 particularly in profiles where sugarcane grew poorly or had died. As expected, pH was positively related to ESP and SARe, but negatively related to ECe. Measurements of aggregate stability by wet sieving, the Emerson dispersion test and the Loveday dispersion score all showed that soils from the study sited tended to disperse and that dispersion was most apparent where high ESP and SARe values occurred in association with elevated pH values and relatively low ECe values. These measurements confirmed observations at the sites of low infiltration rates and restricted drainage particularly on the lower ends of fields where sugarcane had died. In addition to the above measurements it was also observed that there was a rise in the watertable under furrow irrigation and that the watertable was nearest to the surface at the lower ends of the fields. In some cases the watertable was observed to be only 0.2 to 0.3 m from the surface. Thus, death of roots due to anaerobic conditions could be occurring to a greater extent at the lower ends of the fields. Another consequence of the high watertable was that these vertic soils were observed to remain in a permanently swollen state. This limits air and water movement in the soil profile as such soils need to be allowed to dry out and crack regularly so that macroporosity can be restored. Sugarcane yield, stalk height and number of nodes per stalk were not significantly related to ECe. Sugarcane yields were, however, significantly correlated with ESP and pH while stalk height and number of nodes were negatively correlated with ESP, SARe and pH. These results suggested that sodicity was a more limiting factor for sugarcane growth than salinity. Foliar analysis of leaf tissue did not reveal substantial differences in macro- or micro-nutrient content between good and poorly-growing sugarcane. It was concluded that the gradient of decreasing sugarcane growth down the furrow-irrigated fields, with crop death at the lower ends, was the result of a combination of factors. That is, the watertable had risen due to over-irrigation and it was nearer the surface at the lower ends of the fields. Due to capillary rise of salts, this resulted in sodic and sometimes saline-sodic conditions in the surface soil. These conditions could limit plant growth through ion toxicities, plant water stress and inhibition of root growth and function and physiological processes. These would be induced by the high pH and high salt, Na and HC03- concentrations in soil solution. Poor physical conditions associated with sodicity and the continually swollen state of the soils presumably limited infiltration and aeration in the surface soil, and probably restricted root growth. In addition, it is likely that the high watertable limited effective crop rooting depth to about 0.2 m at the lower ends of the fields. The net result was that sugarcane died at the lower ends. A negative effect of soil salinity and/or sodicity was also observed on the soil microbial population. Significant negative correlations were obtained with ECe SARe and ESP with microbial biomass C and microbial activity (as measured by FDA hydrolytic activity or arginine ammonification rate). The activity of enzymes involved in C (P-glucosidase), P (phosphatase) and S (arylsulfatase) mineralization and potential nitrogen mineralization (as determined by aerobic incubation) were also negatively correlated with these factors, with the exception of arylsulfatase activity and ESP. All the above mentioned microbial population measures were also positively correlated with soil organic C content, besides potential nitrogen mineralization. The metabolic quotient, which provides an indication of stress and efficiency of the microbial community, increased considerably with increasing salinity and sodicity and decreased with soil organic C. Thus, increasing salinity and/or sodicity resulted in a smaller, more stressed, less efficient microbial community, while the turnover rate and cycling of C, N, P and S also decreased. It was concluded that salt affected soil not only causes a decline in sugarcane yield through raising the concentration of soluble salts in soil solution, but also has a detrimental effect on microbial activity and on mineralization of soil organic C, N, Sand P.
Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

The near collapse of the Zimbabwean sugarcane industry in 1991/1992 was concluded to be as a result of critical water shortages. This, combined with the uncertainty in the availability of water and a climate characterised by recurring droughts, strongly motivated the sugarcane industry in the South-East Lowveld to strive for improvements in water management and led to the establishment of the Mobile Irrigation Performance Unit (MIPU) in April 2000. Following an extensive literature review, evaluation methods and performance parameters were determined for the different irrigation systems currently in use in the sugarcane industry within the Lowveld of Zimbabwe, in relation to international standards. The systems in use included furrow, centre pivot, hand-move sprinkler, static sprinkler and sub-surface drip. The study also resulted in the development of some novel evaluation tools, examples being a simple device to measure the inflow to irrigation furrows and a uniquely shaped nozzle, used to determine operating pressures within the sub-surface drip system. Factors that can affect a system's performance were investigated and a comparison of the different irrigation system's performance parameters was shown. The evaluation results obtained by the Lowveld MIPU were also compared to MIPU results obtained internationally and reported in the literature. The MIPU evaluations are considered to be of great benefit to the farmer because an extensive database of irrigation system performance has been collated, against which farmers can benchmark their systems in the future. It is also possible that the repetitive nature of certain management and design variables which may be detrimental to system performance under local conditions, can eventually be rendered obsolete, for example, incorrect assumptions in scheduling of irrigation. The evaluation data can also be used to help facilitate objective decisions regarding the selection of irrigation systems to suit particular environments. The research indicates that the sugarcane industry could derive major benefits in improved irrigation systems performance by ensuring that irrigation system operators have the required calibre of skills and sufficient training. The results reported here should benefit farmers and result in refinements to the crop production system rendering it more cost effective and efficient.
Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.