Cane yield increments following regular hot water treatment

The cane growing district on the Richmond River in northern NSW supplies the Broadwater sugar mill. The main soil types are heavy clay soils, heavy clay loams, fine black silty loams and some peat soils, and most are only 0.5 m to 0.6 m above high tide mark. Thus drainage is a very important activity in the production of sugar cane and all drainage outlets to the river are floodgated. Since 1956 cane growers on the Richmond River have had the opportunity to regularly hot water treat sugar cane planting material. New treatment tanks were constructed for the 1964 season and remain in use today, enabling crates of whole stalks (up to 1.2 tonnes) to be treated at 50 degrees C for 2 hours. The value of this heat treatment disease control measure has never been accepted by the majority of cane growers, despite some visible comparisons demonstrated over the years.