SUGARCANE PLANTERS: CHARACTERISTICS OF DIFFERENT TYPES, SOIL DISTURBANCE AND CROP ESTABLISHMENT

THE current low sugar price, together with high production costs, is causing Australian growers to critically review how sugarcane is grown. Planting and the operations undertaken for seedbed preparation have been identified as areas where costs can be reduced. Grower interest in minimum and no-tillage plantings is increasing and there is a need for information on the performance of alternative sugarcane planters. The field performance of a double disk no-tillage planter was compared to the current commercial whole stalk and billet planters. Soil displaced after planting and percentage establishment were used as trial criteria. The physical components of the various planter types have been analysed and deficiencies highlighted. Both commercial whole stalk and billet planters produce significant levels of soil disturbance. This results in high levels of soil moisture loss, and reduces sett to soil contact. The problem is exacerbated by the poor metering systems on billet planters and the use of wide row planting in order to improve sett-to-soil contact. In all field tests, the establishment rates achieved with the double disk whole stalk planter were equal or superior to those achieved by the commercial whole stalk or the billet planter. Advantages of no-tillage planting include reduced cane planting rates (compared to billet planters), improved crop establishment, improved timeliness of field operations and increased cropping flexibility as break crops can be easily included in the crop cycle. The adoption of minimum and no-tillage planting as part of an improved cropping system is seen as the next major advance in the Australian sugarcane industry.