Wiedenfeld, R.P. Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., Vol.

26, 2007
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SUGARCANE WATER USE AND IRRIGATION REQUIREMENTS

IN A SEMI-ARID ENVIRONMENT

By

R.P. WIEDENFELD

Texas Agricultural Experiment Station

b-wiedenfeld@tamu.edu

KEYWORDS: Evapotranspiration, Crop Coefficients,

Sub-surface Drip Irrigation, Water Use Efficiency.

Abstract
WATER for agricultural irrigation is becoming increasingly limited and, therefore, must
be used as efficiently as possible. Sugarcane is a high biomass crop requiring lots of
water. A field study was conducted to determine water requirements and crop water use
by applying different levels of water. These were achieved by varying crop coefficients
used with reference evapotranspiration to determine irrigation scheduling. Sugarcane
yield responses to different water levels varied annually. The irrigation level producing
maximum yields was not the same each year. Total water input including rainfall and
irrigation to achieve maximum yields varied from 973 to 1328 mm/y; while water use
efficiency (fresh weight of cane produced per unit of water uptake) varied from 6.0 to
11.7 t cane/ML of water. These results suggest that the amount of water required to
produce maximum yields in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas may be less than the
amount theoretically used by this crop under ideal conditions as reflected in the
established crop coefficient curves. Deficit irrigation may lower yields, but may
increase the amount of cane produced per unit of water used by the crop.
Introduction
Water availability for agricultural production is becoming increasingly limited everywhere
irrigated agriculture is done. Sugarcane is a big water user. This crop is capable of producing 10
t/ha of cane for each 1.0 to 1.2 ML of water used (Holden, 1998; Rozeff, 1998).
Based on evapotranspiration rates, sugarcane therefore has the potential to produce up to135
t/ha depending on climate conditions in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, which would require 13.5 to
16.0 ML of water. While many factors including inadequate nutrition, salinity, weeds, insects and
diseases can impact sugarcane production, water stress is most often the primary limitation.
Sugarcane irrigation in the Lower Rio Grande Valley is usually very inefficient and wasteful.
Therefore, substantial improvements are possible (Wiedenfeld et al., 2005). Several efforts
have been made to establish sugarcane crop water requirements in South Texas (Salinas and
Namken, 1977; Wiedenfeld, 1995). In order to irrigate sugarcane as efficiently and effectively as
possible, it is necessary to have a good understanding of crop water requirements and use in a
manner that can be easily related to annual variability in climatic and rainfall conditions.
The purpose of this study was to identify optimum water application levels based on
evapotranspiration for sugarcane growth, yield and quality.
Materials and methods
A field study was initiated in 2000 in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas (26o10 N,
o
97 56 W, elevation 18 m), an area with a subtropical, semi-arid climate. Sugarcane cultivar

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TCP87-3388 was planted on 18 September 2000 on a Raymondville clay loam soil (pH 8.4).
Treatments consisted of three irrigation levels determined by using mid-season crop coefficients (Kc
mid) of 1.0, 1.25 and 1.5 (Figure 1).

Fig. 1Crop coefficient curves used to calculate crop water use by sugarcane and
therefore water applied to the three irrigation treatments.

Sugarcane crop water requirements were then determined by applying the appropriate
coefficient curve to reference evapotranspiration (ETo) calculated with the Penman-Monteith
equation (Allen et al., 1998) using data from an automated weather station.
A water balance approach was used, assuming an available soil moisture holding capacity of
0.16 cm water per cm soil depth, and a rooting depth that increased from 61 cm to 152 cm over time
during the growing season. The target of the irrigation scheduling was to initiate irrigation when
available soil moisture reached 55% depletion.
The volume of water applied in the plant crop was the amount necessary to refill the profile
while, in the 1st through 3rd ratoon crops, the volume applied was the amount necessary to raise
available soil moisture content to 25% depletion.
During the growing season over the four year period, soil moisture was maintained above
55% depletion 84% of the time. The greatest number of stress days occurred in the 1st ratoon crop,
and the fewest in the plant crop.
When soil moisture levels occasionally fell below the minimum depletion level, actual crop
water use fell below potential crop water use, as accounted for by the stress coefficient in the
Penman-Monteith equation.
Also, occasional heavy rainfall events caused water inputs greater than the available storage
capacity of the soil profile resulting in runoff or drainage loss, and therefore effective rainfall lower
than total rainfall.
This occurred most often in the plant crop when irrigation volume applied was the amount
necessary to refill the soil profile. Effective rainfall in the plant crop averaged 50.1%, and in the 1st
through 3rd ratoon crops averaged 72.6%.
Daily rainfall events below 2.5 mm were also considered ineffective. Calculated soil
moisture depletion levels for the middle irrigation treatment (Kc mid =1.25) in the 3rd ratoon crop
over time is shown in Figure 2. (A separate graph for each treatment in each crop year was
developed for irrigation scheduling.)

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Fig. 2Soil moisture depletion over time during the 3rd ratoon crop (2004) for
irrigation treatment Kc mid = 1.25 based on calculated crop water use, water inputs
and soil water storage capacity. The target range of 25 to 55% depletion is
illustrated. Irrigation and rainfall events are also shown.Irrigation was stopped
each year on 30 September to induce sugar accumulation in the crop. The actual amount of
irrigation and rainfall for each treatment each year is shown in Table 1.

Table 1Crop evapotranspiration (ETc), water inputs, cane yield and water use efficiency for the
three irrigation treatments for four sugarcane crops.
Etc1 Rain2 Combined Cane Water use
Irrigation
Year Crop Days ETo Kc Potential Actual Total Effective water inputs yield3 efficiency
cm cm t/ha t/ML
2001 Plant 441 153.4 1.0 129.5 129.5 60.5 27.9 95.3 123.2 99.1 8.0
1.25 158.2 158.2 30.5 116.8 147.3 104.2 7.1
1.5 186.9 186.9 33.3 137.9 171.2 102.5 6.0
2002 1st Ratoon 371 138.9 1.0 109.2 108.2 58.7 41.2 61.2 102.4 95.7 9.3
1.25 132.3 126.8 46.5 73.2 119.7 95.1 7.9
1.5 155.2 136.1 49.0 83.8 132.8 102.2 7.7
2003 2nd Ratoon 401 149.1 1.0 118.9 113.0 75.2 50.0 47.5 97.5 114.1a 11.7
1.25 144.5 131.8 50.0 60.2 110.2 110.3ab 10.0
1.5 170.4 143.3 50.0 70.0 120.0 105.6 B 8.8
rd
2004 3 Ratoon 361 145.5 1.0 116.6 113.3 91.7 55.1 42.7 97.8 92.4a 9.4
1.25 141.7 130.8 74.7 51.8 126.6 105.6 B 8.3
1.5 166.9 143.5 74.7 57.7 132.4 92.1a 7.0
1
Actual crop evapotranspiration may be less than potential crop evapotranspiration due to water stress occasionally
encountered.
2
Effective rainfall is less than total rainfall due to various losses before the water is used by the crop.
3
Means followed by the same letter are not statistically different. Where no letters follow means, no statistically
significant difference was found.

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Treatments were applied in plots 125 m2 in size (13.7 m long by 6 rows at 1.5 m spacing)
and were replicated five times in a randomised complete block design. The crop was irrigated using
sub-surface drip irrigation using water from the Rio Grande River [average electrical conductivity
(EC) 1.3 dS/m). Lateral connections for water delivery were configured to allow control and
metering for each individual plot.
The study was conducted for four sugarcane crops, which were harvested annually for yield
and sugar analysis. The field was burnt then harvested using a commercial harvester and weigh
wagon to weigh the entire plot. Subsamples of cane were taken, crushed, and the juice analysed for
refractometer solids, pol and EC.
Results and discussion
Sugarcane crop water use determined using the crop coefficient curve based on the low Kc
mid =1.0 annually ranged from 10.8 to 13.0 ML depending primarily on the length of the growing
season (Table 1). The increase in crop water use when the high Kc mid = 1.5 was applied was 44%
higher in the plant crop, and 26 to 27% in the 1st through 3rd ratoon crops.
No significant differences in sugarcane yields occurred due to the irrigation treatments
applied in the plant and 1st ratoon crops (Figure 3).

Fig. 3Sugarcane fresh weight yields for the three irrigation treatments for four
crop cycles.

Highest yields in the 2nd and 3rd ratoon crops occurred at the low and middle irrigation level,
respectively. No differences in juice quality parameters due to the irrigation treatments were found
any year. Between the highest and lowest irrigation treatments each year, the level of variation in
sugarcane yield was 15% or less, while the difference in the amount of water inputs ranged between
23% and 39%. Therefore, highest water use efficiency each year occurred at the lowest irrigation
level and declined with increasing water application (Figure 4).
The first through third ratoon sugarcane crops in this study produced between 9.3 and 11.7 t
of cane per ML of water used at the low irrigation treatment. This is in line with the published
production potential for sugarcane (Holden, 1998, Rozeff, 1998), and is well above typical
production for this region.

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Fig. 4Sugarcane water use efficiency (fresh weight of cane produced per unit of
water uptake) for the three irrigation treatments for four crop cycles.

This suggests that other stress factors were probably not limiting production. The fact that
yield gains due to increases in water application were small or nonexistent suggest that the amount
of water required by sugarcane in order to produce maximum yields in the Lower Rio Grande
Valley of Texas may be lower than the total amount of water used by sugarcane under ideal
condition based on the published crop coefficient curves.
REFERENCES
Allen, R.G., Pereira, L.S., Raes, D. and Smith M. (1998). Crop evapotranspiration guidelines
for computing crop water requirements. FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 56. FAO,
Rome.
Holden, J.R. ed. (1998). Irrigation of Sugarcane. BSES, Brisbane, Australia.
Rozeff, N. (1998). Sugarcane irrigation management. In: Rozeff, N. et al. ed. South Texas
Sugarcane Production Handbook. Texas A&M Univ. Res. Ext. Ctr., Weslaco., 1511517.
Salinas, F. and Namken, L.N. (1977). Irrigation scheduling for sugarcane in the Lower Rio
Grande Valley, Texas. Proc. Am. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., 6: 186191.
Wiedenfeld, R.P. (1995). Effects of irrigation and N fertiliser application on sugarcane yield and
quality. Field Crops Res., 3: 101108.
Wiedenfeld, B., Enciso, J., Fipps, G. and Robinson, J. (2005). Irrigation of sugarcane in Texas.
Texas Cooperative Extension B-6156 (15 p).

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Wiedenfeld, R.P. Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., Vol. 26, 2007
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UTILISATION DE LEAU ET BESOINS EN IRRICATION DE LA

CANNE SUCRE DANS UN ENVIRONNEMENT SEMI-ARIDE
Par
R.P. WIEDENFELD
Texas Agricultural Experiment Station
b-wiedenfeld@tamu.edu
MOTS-CLS: Evapotranspiration, Coefficients Culturaux,
Irrigation Goutte a Goutte, Efficience d'Utilisation de l'Eau.
Rsum
L'EAU NECESSAIRE l'irrigation agricole, devenant de plus en plus limite, doit tre employe le
plus efficacement possible. La canne sucre, dont la production de biomasse est leve, exige de
grandes quantits d'eau. Une tude au champ a t conduite pour dterminer les besoins en eau et
l'utilisation de l'eau par la culture en appliquant diffrentes doses dirrigation. Ceci a t ralis en
faisant varier les coefficients culturaux employs avec l'vapotranspiration de rfrence pour
dterminer les programmes d'irrigation. Les rponses du rendement de la canne sucre aux
diffrents apports d'eau ont vari selon les annes. Les apports produisant les rendements maxima
diffrent chaque anne. L'apport total deau incluant les prcipitations et l'irrigation, pour raliser
les rendements maximum, a vari de 973 1328 mm/an; tandis que lefficience d'utilisation de l'eau
(rendement frais/quantit deau absorbe) a vari de 6.0 11.7 T canne/ML deau. Ces rsultats
suggrent que la quantit de l'eau ncessaire pour produire les rendements maxima dans la basse
valle du Rio Grande du Texas peut tre infrieure la quantit thoriquement employe par cette
culture dans des conditions idales indiques dans les courbes de coefficients culturaux. Une
irrigation dficitaire peut diminuer les rendements, mais peut augmenter la quantit de canne
produite par unit deau utilise par la rcolte.

USO DE AGUA EN CAA DE AZCAR Y REQUERIMIENTOS

DE RIEGO EN UN AMBIENTE SEMI-RIDO
Por
R.P. WIEDENFELD
Texas Agricultural Experiment Station
b-wiedenfeld@tamu.edu
PALABRAS CLAVE: Evapotranspiracin, Coeficientes de Cultivo,
Riego por Goteo Sub-Superficial, Eficiencia de Uso del Agua.
Resumen
EL AGUA para riego agrcola se est volviendo ms limitada y por tanto, debe ser usada lo ms
eficientemente posible. La caa de azcar es un cultivo de alta biomasas que requiere bastante agua.
Se condujo un estudio de campo para determinar los requerimientos hdricos y el uso de agua del
cultivo aplicando diferentes niveles de agua. Esto se logr variando los coeficientes de cultivo
usados con la evapotranspiracin de referencia para determinar los calendarios de riego. Las
respuestas en el rendimiento de la caa de azcar a los diferentes niveles de agua variaron
anualmente. El nivel de riego que produjo los mximos rendimientos no fue el mismo cada ao. La
cantidad de agua entrante incluyendo lluvia y riego para alcanzar los mximos rendimientos vari
de 973 a 1328 mm/ao; mientras que la eficiencia de uso del agua (peso fresco de caa producida
por unidad de agua tomada) vari de 6.0 a 11.7 t caa/ML de agua. Estos resultados sugieren que la
cantidad de agua requerida para producir mximos rendimientos en el Bajo del Valle del Ro
Grande en Texas puede ser menor que la cantidad tericamente usada por este cultivo bajo
condiciones ideales tal como se reflej en las curvas determinadas de coeficiente de cultivo. Un
riego con dficit podra bajar los rendimientos, pero podra aumentar la cantidad de caa producida
por unidad de agua empleada por el cultivo.

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