Vol.

6 (4) : 241 - 249 (2004)

SUGARCANE AGRICULTURE

Chemical Ripening of Sugarcane : Global Progress

and Recent Developments in China
S. Solomon and Yang-rui Li
qndian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow, India
2Guangxi Academy of agricultural Sciences, Nanning, P.R. China

Chemical ripening of sugarcane is a well established practice to enhance sucrose content in many sugarcane
growing countries. Chemical ripeners such as Ethephon, Glyphosate analogues, Fusilade Super, Gallant
Super are being used in large scale sugarcane plantations. The gains in sucrose content in sugarcane
have been reported from 0.5-2.0 units, depending upon variety-weather.ripener i n t e r a c t i o n . . In mainland
China, many chemicals with ripeners like properties such as Lanthanium rich rare earth mixture, lime
water, potassium di hydrogen phosphate etc. have been tried. Duoxiaohao- a product consisted of multiple
nutrient elements also showed good results in improving plant growth and sugar accumulation in sugarcane.
However, the best results have been obtained with glyphosate-borate complex which was effective even
under water deficit stress and did not affect sprouting of subsequent ratoon crop. The average improvement
in pol% cane was over 1.0 unit. Due to its commercial benefits, it has been popularized in large scale
of sugarcane plantations in Guangxi Province and at present about 20,000 hectares have been brought
under chemical ripening using glyphosate-borate aerial spray.

KEYWORDS : Chemical ripening, sugarcane, ripener, sucrose

Ripening of sugarcane is a process whereby fresh

weight sucrose content increases in the stalk. This
process
occurs naturally
when c r o p s h a v e
a c c u m u l a t e d a d e q u a t e s t e m b i o m a s s and w h e n
c l i m a t i c c o n d i t i o n s f a v o u r a s l o w i n g of s t e m
elongation.
A c e r t a i n level of m o i s t u r e stress
enhances accumulation of sucrose in sugarcane and
therefore, inducing mild water stress can also cause
ripening. This practice was c o m m o n in irrigated
plains of Jamiaca and Mexico. Since the 1940's there
has been w o r l d w i d e e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n on u s i n g
chemicals to artificially increase sucrose content. The
c h e m i c a l s found to be s u c c e s s f u l are known as
ripeners.
Ripeners are an integral part of farm
m a n a g e m e n t in many countries.

chemically increase sucrose levels

in c a n e
influenced by poor natural ripening conditions. Since
its i n t r o d u c t i o n
in 1975 as the w o r l d ' s first
commercial sugarcane ripener and advent of many
chemicals having similar properties, their use in
c o m m e r c i a l p l a n t a t i o n is c o n s t a n t l y i n c r e a s i n g
( N i c k e l l , 1987, 1988). T h e i m p a c t o f this
technological breakthrough to sugar industry is
considerable, as both growers and millers have been
able to better manage harvest schedules and produce
more sugar with less concern that adverse weather
will reduce sugar yield at harvest (Hilton et al.
1980).
CHEMICAL
RIPENING
DEVELOPMENTS

The initial experiments carried out by Beauchamp

(1950) with 2,4-D in Cuba paved the way
for
chemical ripening technology in sugar industry.
T h i s was f o l l o w e d by s i m i l a r w o r k in I n d i a
(Chakravarti et al., 1956, 1957). A new era dawned
in the s u g a r industry w h e n M o n s a n t o C o m p a n y
developed Polaris (N, N bis-phosphonomethyl glycine
glyphosine), a plant growth regulator, which could

OVERSEAS

Ripeners are an integral part of farm m a n a g e m e n t

in many cane growing countries and areas. Ethrel
(Ethephon), Fusilade Super (fluazifop) and Gallant
Super (haloxyfop) are registered for use in South
Africa, Guyana and Swaziland. G l y p h o s a t e is used
in Hawaii, Mauritius, Florida and L o u i s i a n a and
Moddus ( t r i n e x a p a c - e t h y l ) is used e x t e n s i v e l y in
Indonesia and Brazil. The most widely used of these
commercial ripeners are glyphosate analogues, which
displaced glyphosine c o m p o u n d s as the ripener of

Author for correspondence : Yang-rui Li

e-mail : liyangrui40@hotmail.com
241

T h e r e is a r e n e w e d i n t e r e s t in c h e m i c a l r i p e n e r
usage and research in order to i m p r o v e p r o f i t a b i l i t y
and e c o n o m i c s u s t a i n a b i l i t y o f s u g a r i n d u s t r y worldw i d e . T h e m a j o r f o c u s is
o n i m p r o v i n g the
o p e r a t i o n a l a s p e c t s o f r i p e n e r use r a t h e r t h a n
i d e n t i f y i n g new r i p e n e r m o l e c u l e s , a l t h o u g h , this
work does c o n t i n u e , but in a r a t h e r low key.

choice in a n u m b e r o f i n d u s t r i e s in the e a r l y 1980s

( H i l t o n e t a l . , 1980). T h e m o s t r e c e n t of these to be
e m p l o y e d on a c o m m e r c i a l scale is the t r i m e s i u m
salt of g l y p h o s a t e , w h i c h is sold as T o u c h d o w n and
was first i n t r o d u c e d in G u y a n a as a c h e m i c a l r i p e n e r
in 1 9 9 6 ( E a s t w o o d a n d Davis, 1997). T h e two other
w i d e l y used r i p e n e r s are the e t h y l e n e - g e n e r a t i n g
c o m p o u n d E t h e p h o n ( R o s t r o n , 1977) w h i c h appears
severely l i m i t e d as regards the r a n g e o f cultivars
which show e f f e c t i v e r e s p o n s e s and the g r a m i n i c i d e
f l u a z i f o p - b u t y l ( F u s i l a d e ) which has p r o v e d effective
not only in s o u t h e r n A f r i c a ( R o s t r o n , 1985) but also
in the C a r i b b e a n s u g a r i n d u s t r i e s ( E a s t w o o d and
Davis, 1997) and C h i n a (Li and S o l o m o n , 2003). A
b r i e f s u r v e y of r i p e n e r s use in d i f f e r e n t c o u n t r i e s is
given in Table 1.

GLOBAL STATUS OF ARTIFICIAL

RIPENING

Argentina

Studies concerning
chemical ripeners
were
i n i t i a t e d by O b i s p o C o l o m b r e s E x p e r i m e n t S t a t i o n
( E E A O C , T u c u m a n ) in 1994 a n d more than seven
p o t e n t i a l l y useful r i p e n e r s h a v e been tested so far.
O n l y g l y p h o s a t e a n d F l u a z i f o p P - b u t y l have b e e n
r e c o m m e n d e d for c o m m e r c i a l a p p l i c a t i o n ( R o m e r o
et al., 2001), the h i g h e s t i n c r e a s e were a c h i e v e d by
s p r a y i n g these r i p e n e r s at the e n d of m a i n g r o w i n g
period (from mid-March
to m i d - A p r i l ) . T h e
m a g n i t u d e of the s u g a r i n c r e a s e s was c o n s i s t e n t in
most s i t u a t i o n s ( R o m e r o et al., 2000).
Efficient

T h e s e c h e m i c a l r i p e n e r s are n o r m a l l y used for

(i) i m p r o v i n g s u g a r r e c o v e r y d u r i n g i n c l i n e phase
of c a n e m a t u r i t y , (ii) s u s t a i n i n g s u g a r r e c o v e r y
d u r i n g d e c l i n e phase of maturity, and (iii) m i n i m i z i n g
d e t e r i o r a t i o n in s t a n d - o v e r crop.

Table - 1 : Commercial use of ripeners in some cane growing countries and areas
Ripener

Country or area

I m p r o v e m e n t in sucrose content/recovery

Cycocel

India

0.5 -1.5 unit increase in sugar recovery

Dinitrosocifrol

India

0.6 unit increase in sugar recovery

Ethrel (Ethephon)

South Africa, India, Peru Malawai, Guyana Zambia,

Swaziland, Taiwan and Mainland China

About 1.4 tonne/ha increase in recoverable

sugar

Embark

Taiwan

0.6-0.8

Fusilade Super

USA, South Africa Mauritius, Argentina

1.5 tonne/ha increase in sugar

Gallant Super

South Africa

Effective in improving sugar content

Glyphosate

Hawaii, Florida, Lou'isiana (USA), South Africa,

Taiwan, Mainland China Jamaica, India, Trinidad,
Brazil Argentina, Australia

About 1.0 unit increase in sugar recovery

Glyphosate-Borate complex

Mainland China

1.5 -2.0 unit increase in sucrose % cane

Lanthanum-rich rare earth

Mainland China

0.7 unit increase in sucrose % cane

Lime water

Mainland China

-0.5 -1.0 unit increase in sucrose % cane.

4-9 weeks after spraying

Nowmow/ Moddus

Mauritius, Brazil, Indonesia

Appreciable increase in sucrose recovery,

6-9 weeks after spraying.

MON 8000

South Africa, Jamaica

Significant increase in sugar recovery

Mefluidide

The Philippines, Hawaii

Significant increase in sugar recovery

KH2PO4

Mainland China

0.5-1.2 unit increase in sucrose % cane,

4-9 weeks after spraying

Polaris

USA (Hawaii)

2.5 metric tonne/ha increase in "sucrose

Polaris CP 41945

Brazil, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Taiwan, Mauritius,

Louisiana, Malawi, Swaziland, Panama, South Africa

!..5-2.0 unit increase in sugar recovery

Rare earth mixture

Mainland China

0.2-0.5 unit increase in sucrose % cane

Roundup/ Polado

USA, Mauritius, Taiwan

3.2 metric tonne/ha increase in sugar

Touchdown

Guyana

Effective in improving sugar recovery

metric tonne/ha increase in sugar

242

m a n a g e m e n t of this practice produced at least 300

extra kg of sugar per hectare, with a return that
widely exceeds the treatment cost in a short period
of time (6- 12 weeks), with a benefit-cost ratio higher
than 7.

that the response of varieties to Ethrel, or other

ripeners could be modified by variation in climate.
In Kalamia Estate, Ayr (North Queensland) many
sugarcane cultivars were evaluated for their response
to different ripener treatments i.e. Ethrel (ethephon)
plus Fusilade (Ethrel/Fusilade), Fusilade (fluazifop)
alone, V e r d i c t ( h a l o x y f o p )
and g l y p h o s a t e .
G l y p h o s a t e and E t h r e l / F u s i l a d e
significantly
i n c r e a s e d m e a n CCS by 1.2 and 0.75 units
respectively (Morgan et al., 2001; Macdonald et al.,
2000, 2001) 8waa. There was no significant response
to Fusilade alone or Verdict. There was significant
variety by ripener interactions for both glyphosate
and Ethrel/Fusilade treatments indicating that some
cultivars ( Q l 1 7 , Q127 and Q135) responded better
than others did to both treatments. This study has
shown that g l y p h o s a t e and E t h r e l / F u s i l a d e can
increase the sucrose content of m a n y cultivars that
can now be studied further on the basis of their
responsiveness. The ability of these chemicals to
enhance sucrose content in i m m a t u r e crops with low
CCS suggested that the profitability associated with
e a r l y s e a s o n h a r v e s t i n g can be s i g n i f i c a n t l y
improved.

Australia

The earliest e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n with ripeners in

Australia were carried out in Bundaberg (Bieske,
1970) using glyphosine in early and late season.
Positive responses of up to 1.5 and 1.76 units CCS
were recorded after application in early April and in
October, respectively. T h e s e beneficial r e s p o n s e s
occurred where there was adequate rainfall prior to
and after the late season application. A small number
of trials was carried out in the Northern and Central
districts ( Q u e e n s l a n d ) in 1969 and 1970 by the
Bureau of Sugar E x p e r i m e n t Station (BSES) using
Polaris and Du Pont product DA-5. Increase in CCS
levels were small, generally less than 0.4 units in
both the incline and d e c l i n e period of m a t u r i t y
(Hurney, 1976). Aerial application, tractor application
and small plot trials were carried out in a number of
areas using a range of chemicals and varieties in
both early and late season applications in 1976 and
1977 (Chapman, and Kingston, 1977).

There are situations within the Australian sugar

industry where ripeners can increase sucrose content
in many c o m m e r c i a l varieties. In Australia, further
r e s e a r c h on r i p e n e r s is u n d e r w a y to define the
a p p r o p r i a t e c o n d i t i o n s n e c e s s a r y for e c o n o m i c
responses to different ripeners, and to increase the
range of registered ripeners available to growers.

Sugarcane ripener research was discontinued in

Australia after 1977 partly due to some instances of
negative effects of glyphosate on subsequent ratoon
crops. Also, the economic climate was not favourable
for this type of development. These experiments
resumed in 1987 in a n u m b e r of regions using Ethrel
as m a j o r cane ripener. The best r e s p o n s e s were
a c h i e v e d f r o m a p p l y i n g Ethrel to w e l l - g r o w n ,
unstressed cane of low juice purity in March and
April (Kingston et al., 1991). In Mackay, application
of Fusilade stopped cane growth and increased CCS
by 3.5 units higher than the control in Q124, five
weeks after spraying (Willcox et al., 1999). This was
perhaps due to higher dosage of Fusilade which
was twice the rate generally r e c o m m e n d e d in South
Africa of 41.3 g a.i./ha. M a n y experiments suggested
that Fusilade was more effective ripener than Ethrel
for variety Q124.

Brazil

Sugarcane ripener trials using Polaris started in

Northeast Brazil in 1973. Varieties CO 331 and CB
45-3 which occupied m a x i m u m acreage during this
time were treated with Polaris (4 kg/ha)
in the
incline period of maturity (Azzi et al., 1976). Within
4-8 weeks after application , variety CO 331 showed
an increase in pol% cane upto 30% over check.
Variety CB 45-3 showed an increase in pol% cane
between 7 and 19% over check. In Central-South
region of Brazil, Polaris application in the month of
May showed better ripening response. The ripening
effect of Polaris becon]e discernable after 4 th week
s h o w i n g i m p r o v e m e n t up to 16 w e e k s a f t e r
application (Fernandes et al., 1976). This chemical
was effective in I st and 2 nd ratoons which had
received vinasse the previous year with an increase
in pol% cane of 30-33%.

In the Broadwater area, s e m i - c o m m e r c i a l strip

trials with F u s i l a d e |
Verdict|
Glyphosate
(Weedmaster| Duo) & Ethrel showed that Fusilade
super was more effective in cane varieties BN 1394
and Q 124.

China

Australian varieties differed in their response to

ripeners. In southern and central Queensland, H56752 showed a response of greater than 0.5 units CCS
in 92 % of trials in' 1987 and in 80 % of trials in
1988. The variety CP44-101 had a response of greater
than 0.5 units CCS in 67 % of trials in 1987, in none
of the trials in 1988 and in only 50 % of trials in
1990 (Kingston et al., 1991). These studies indicated

Studies carried out in 1980's by many Chinese

sugarcane researchers have indicated several
chemicals effective in increasing the sucrose % cane
or even cane yield together. After three years of
multi-locational experiments and extensive laboratory
analyses, Chen et al. (1990) concluded that foliar
spray of 0.03% rare earth at late tillering stage of
243

sugarcane resulted in considerable increase in sucrose

% cane and cane yield, probably these rare earth
elements serve as e n z y m e activators in sugarcane
plants (Yang et al., 1990, 1992). Later, the Chinese
scientists further p r o v e d that the lanthanum-rich rare
earth worked even better than the rare earth mixture
in improving sugar accumulation in sugarcane (Li et
al., 1994a, 1994b).
" D u o x i a o h a o " , a product of
Guangxi Agricultural University, consisted of
multiple nutrient elements also showed good results
in improving plant growth and sugar accumulation
in sugarcane. Li and Yang (1994) also reported that
in the same e x p e r i m e n t , both treatments of spraying
2% lime water and 1% KH2PO 4 during 2 nd week of
October increased sucrose % cane (Table 1).

artificial ripening using the above ripener complex

was very effective and profitable for sugarcane
crop of this areas. Sugarcane grown near irrigated
paddy fields showed better results 40 days after
ripener's treatment (Table 2). The highest value of
sucrose in cane i.e. 19.83%
following
ripeners
treatment was recorded in this experiment which is
never o b s e r v e d in general c o m m e r c i a l s u g a r c a n e
fields in Guangxi area. The artificial ripening using
small airplane which was convenient and economical
was r e c o m m e n d e d for c o m m e r c i a l s u g a r c a n e
plantation of Guangxi areas as the milling generally
c o m m e n c e s in early N o v e m b e r (sometimes in late
October) when the sucrose content in cane is rather
low and r e c o v e r i e s are poor. This c o m b i n a t i o n
ripener treatment was also effective under drought
conditions.

Lin et al. (1990) conducted during early October

1989 proved that the foliar spray of 400 mg/L
ethephon
could
significantly increase
sucrose
content in cane and improved the juice quality of
three s u g a r c a n e v a r i e t i e s
one m o n t h a f t e r the
treatment. The cane yield was also increased when
the crop was harvested in next February. In several
experiments, the 300 mg/L glyphosate treatment also
produced good ripening result (Wu, 1983; Wen, 1985;
Ye, 1987; Pang, 1987; Lin et al., 1990; Liao et al.,
1997). Ethephon was highly effective in promoting
sugar accumulation and increasing sucrose content
in the immature internodes but not in the mature
internodes of sugarcane (Yao et al., 2000; Li and
Solomon, 2003).

Small scale trials using liquid line application of

sucrose enhancing chemicals, dinitrosocifrol were
also carried out in Guangxi University, China (Li
Yang
Rui,
unpublished
observations).
The
i m p r o v e m e n t in sucrose % cane ranged from 0.3-0.9
in a few sugarcane genotypes.
Cuba

In C u b a , f l u a z i f o p is the m o s t widely used

chemical ripener. Experiments conducted by Cutino
et al. (1995) showed that fluazifop and glyphosate
were e c o n o m i c a l l y f a v o u r a b l e than ethephon and
fluazifop. The gain in s u g a r following c h e m i c a l
ripening ranged from 0.5 to 2.0 ton/ha, 6-8 waa.

Li et al. developed a chemical mixture consist of

300 mg/L g l y p h o s a t e + 400 mg/L boric acid, and
was name s u c r o s e - c a n e promoter (Li et al., 2000).
After confirming its good effect in speeding up the
ripening and increasing sucrose % cane, cane qulity
cane yield and growth of n e x t ' r a t o o n crop (Li et al.,
1992, 1993, 2000; Liao et al., 1997), the sucrosecane p r o m o t e r was popularized in large scale of
sugarcane platations in Guangxi Province (Li, 1994),
and the total application area reached 20,000 ha.,
and very good results were obtained. However, the
extension was limited by the difficulty of spraying
based on hand operation.

Table - 2 : The analysis results of sucrose% cane after

spraying complex ripener by airplane in Shangsi
County, China
Days after
spraying

30

Most recent studies were conducted in Shangsi

County, China during 2003-2004 season (Yang-Rui
Li et al., unpublished data) to advance cane maturity
and improve sucrose content during early milling
phase. The above mentioned ripener c o m p l e x (300
mg/L glyphosate + 400 mg/L boric acid) was sprayed
by airplane over 2000 hectares of sugarcane during
4 th week of October, 2003 on cane varieties ROC10,
ROC16 and ROC22. The increase in sucrose % cane
in these varieties sprayed with g l y p h o s a t e - b o r a t e
showed average increase to the ex.tent of 1.18%,
1.30% and 0.78%, respectively, in 30, 45 and 60
days as c o m p a r e d to untreated control. The purity
o f j u i c e was also i n c r e a s e d i n d i c a t i n g that the

45

60

244

Sugarcane
variety

Sucrose % cane

_+%

Ripener

Control

ROC10

16.47

15.20

+ 1.27

ROCI6

16.84

15.65

+ 1.19

ROC22

16.34

15.28

+ 1.06

Average

16.55

15.37

+ 1.18

ROCI0

16.55

15.37

+ 1.36

ROCI6

16.94

15.46

+ 1.48

ROC22

16.87

15.62

+ 1.25

Average

16.78

15.48

+ 1.30

ROC10.

16.90

16.23

+ 0.67

ROC16

17.20

16.50

+ 0.70

ROC22

16.89

15.91

+ 0.98

Average

16.99

16.21

+ 0.78

Total average

16.77

15.68

+ 1.09

Guyana

India

Sugarcane is grown on the Atlantic Coastline of

Guyana, much of it below sea level. There are two
harvesting seasons each year i.e February to May
and from August to December. Rainfall is extremely
variable and it ranges from 150-200 cm per annum.
Temperatures are uniformly high, mean monthly
maximum temperature range from 28-31 ~ and
minimum temperature ranges from 22-26 ~ Fields
are almost completely surrounded by water on three
sides by navigation/irrigation canals and on the fourth
side by a drainage canal. Almost all cane is
transported to factories by water.

In India, commercial scale trials were carried

out in three sugar mills of Tamil Nadu state(tropical )
during 1976-77 season using Polaris @ 4 kg/ha and
sodium metasilicate (SMS) @ 1.6 kg/ha. These
ripeners were sprayed on 9-10 months old crop and
harvested at 6-8 week after application of chemicals.
Crop sprayed with SMS and Polaris recorded 0.44 1.00 and 1.05-2.20 units increase in sugar recovery,
respectively. Srivastava and Singh(1976) reported
efficacy of sodium metasilicate, Cycocel and Polaris
on sugarcane ripening grown in a difficult -to-ripen
area of South-east coastal belt (Nellikuppam),
Padegaon (Maharashtra), Daurala (Uttar Pradesh) and
Jullundur (Panjab). In sub-tropical India, Polaris
treatment showed 0.78 units increase in sugar
recovery (Chiranjivi Rao, 1980). Studies carried out
by Ethirajan (1976) at Sugarcane Breeding Institute,
Coimbatore also showed perceptible improvement
in sucrose content following application of Polaris
(2kg/ha) in early ripening varieties. These studies
with Polaris and glyphosate were supported by the
work carried out at the Indian Institute of Sugarcane
Research,Lucknow (Kumar and Pande, 1987; Kumar
and Shrivastava, 1993; Solomon et a l . , 1997;
Shrivastava et al., 2002). Combination ripener trials
with Polaris (4000 ppm) + Cycocel (2000 ppm) and
Polaris + Ethrel were also conducted in sub-tropical
india and gave appreciable" improvement in juice
quality. Hapase e t al. (1991) reported positive
ripening response of Cycocel, Glyphosate, Polaris
on cane varieties grown in India.

Earlier studies reported from Guyana (Jackson,

1976) indicated that Polaris was ef f ect i ve in
improving ripening in cane varieties B 41227 and
HJ 5741 and results were consistently good. Polaris
treated fields yielded better quality than control fields
at harvest, 6-8 waa. The percentage improvement
varied from 1.2% to 20.6%. In addition to the
improvements in intrinsic cane quality there have
been other benefits from the use of ripening
chemicals. In all cases there has been a very
significant reduction in the quality of trash delivered
to the factory.
Since 1995 the G u y a n a Sugar Corporation
(GySuCo) has employed chemical ripening on an
increasing scale (about 70% area in 1997) and
continue to expand application to the maximum that
can be achieved within the operational and
environmental limitations of the industry . The
response to the chemicals employed is such that even
if the sugar to be sold in non-preferential markets it
would be financially beneficial to employ this
technology. The experience in Guyana with large
chemical ripening has indicated that there was
significant increases in juice purity and recoverable
sugar % cane, irrespective of variety treated or time
of year of application There have been no complaints
regarding upstream juice processing, on the contrary
quality of molasses was improved that is fermented
to Demerara.

Many cane ripeners were tested in sub-tropical

India to advance cane maturity and improve sucrose
content during early milling period. Solomon et al.
(1997, 1998, 2001, 2002) report ed efficacy of
ethephon, glyphosate and dinitrosocifrol (PSR) in
improving sucrose content during early season. The
large scale application of these chemicals was
restricted due to small land holdings, difficulties in
spraying of sugarcane crop, payment on weight basis
and lack of incentive to growers. Alternative
technologies such as liquid and land-line application
of sucrose enhancing chemicals were tried with
varying degree of success (Solomon and Shahi, 2001;
Solomon e t a l . , 2002; Solomon, 2004). Studies
conducted in India and China have shown that liquid
line or soil application of dinitrosocifrol (PSR)
increased sucrose content in many cane varieties
(Table 3). Sugarcane ripening chemicals viz., ethrel
(500 mg/1) dinitrosocifrol (2.5 kg/ha) and sodium
metasilicate (1%) were also found to maintain quality
of stand-over sugarcane crop. Despite excellent work
done by the Indian scientists, chemical ripening
technology has not been commercially exploited by
the Indian sugar industry.

There were no indications that ripener application

has had any effect on total polysaccharide and
dextran content of the cane ~anlike the situation in
Louisiana where some varieties do show such
increases following glyphosate application (Legendre
et al., 1999). The microbial polysaccharides viz.,
dextrans are seldom encountered in cane in Guyana.
Indeed the industry has never been penalised for the
presence of dextrans in export raw sugars. In Guyana
the ex p er ien ce with commercial scale usage of
ripeners from 1995 to 1998, indicated that there
was a gain of a b o u t ' l . 0 percent in terms of sugar
recovered percent cane, a highly profitable venture
for the industry . Recently, Use of sugarcane ripeners
and the specialized spray adjuvant Mas Azticar have
been found to increase profitability.
245

Table - 3 : E f f i c a c y of d i n i t r o s o c i f r o l a p p l i c a t i o n
improving sucrose content in sugarcane

in

east, excellent and profitable ripening responses were

obtained during incline period of cane maturity when
the Polaris was applied f r o m m i d - D e c e m b e r to late
February.

Foliar Application
Sugar Unit

Variety

Crop age
at harvest

Increase
in sugar
% cane

Warana SSK ( 6 2 )

Co7219

13

0.60

Purna SSK (69)

Co 7219

14

0.93

Ugar Sugar (80)

Co 671

10

0.60

In the late crop period ripening

activity was
excellent with responses increasing with application
from late-April onwards. In this area the greatest
responses were obtained with variety B 51129.
Mauritius

In Mauritius, harvest season generally begins at

the end of June and ends in December. The cane
quality is relatively poor at the beginning of harvest
and therefore, studies on ripener Polaris were started
in 1971 (Anon., 1996; Julien, 1974, 1976) to increase
pol% cane early in the harvest season. The best
response of Polaris (4 kg/ha) was noticed at earlier
application, particularly in April. Recent reports
showed that Fusilade Super @ 40-60 g ai/ha is being
applied in commercial plantation using micro-light
aircraft, and i m p r o v e m e n t in sucrose % cane in the
range of 1 . 0 - 1.2% at the start of season

Liquid Line Application

Sugar Unit

Increase in pol% cane

BHL, Gola Sugar Factory

pol% cane

CoS 8436

1.24

CoJ 64

2.39

CoS 95255

2.56

Indonesia

A limited amount of research has been done with

the ripeners in I n d o n e s i a using Fusilade Super,
Ethephon, Moddus, Roundup and Touchdown. In the
wet areas of Indonesia, i s o p r o p y l a m i n e glyphosate
(G-IPA) and fluazifop-P-butyl are commercially used
as ripeners to harvest more sugar during the milling
season. However, high rates of G.-IPA adversely
affected growth of subsequent ratoon crop. Field
experiments were undertaken with new cane ripener
sulfosate ( g l y p h o s a t e trimesium) in 1999 and 2000
on an unirrigated site of Gula Putih Mataram Sugar
E s t a t e in L a m p u n g , S o u t h
S u m a t r a in which
S u l p h o s a t e was
sprayed over
8 m o n t h s old
sugarcane crop (Mirzawan et al., 2001). Application
of Sulphosate gave similar response to that of GIPA in increasing cane maturity and had negative
effects on the growth of ratoon crop. The highest
maturity score was recorded during 3-6 waa, and
r e c o m m e n d e d rate of application was 336 g ai/ha.

South

Africa

The use of ripeners has become a standard practice

in some parts of the South African sugar industry
during the past few years. The focus has been on
chemicals that increase sucrose yields by raising
cane quality. The chemicals registered as ripeners
of sugarcane in South Africa are ethephon (2chlroethyl phosphonic acid), glyphosate( isopropyl
a m m o n i u m salt o f N - p h o s p h o m e t h y l g l y c i n e ) ,
Fusilade Super (fluazifop-P-butyl) and Gallant Super
( h a l o x y f o p - P - b u t y l ) . T h e annual area of cane treated
with ripeners doubled in South Africa between 1995
and 1997 (Donaldson, 1999), i.e from 18 614 to 38
605 hectares. This has resulted in an additional 31
000 tons of sucrose through chemical ripening.
About 80% of the crop in South Africa is not
irrigated, and thus good rainfall distribution and soils
with g o o d w a t e r h o l d i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s l a r g e l y
dictate the area sprayed from year to year. The recent
renewed interest in ripeners stems from improved
weather conditions, a larger choice of good varieties
and r i p e n e r s and i m p r o v e d t e c h n o l o g y transfer.
South African millers have for some years been aware
of the benefits from chemical ripening. Besides the
gain in sucrose yields, the higher purity of ripened
c a n e r e s u l t e d in b e t t e r s u g a r r e c o v e r y . Due to
beneficial impact of this technology, some millers
subsidise part of the costs of the chemical and its
application as an incentive to farmers to use cane
ripeners. Millers are also c o n t e m p l a t i n g to start
s e a s o n early and crushing for longer periods than
usual by making judicious use of ripeners.

James Glyn and his co-workers (1999, 2002) also

reported use of chemical ripeners in Indonesian
sugar industry. T h e i r studies showed efficacy of
Touchdown on a large spectrum of cane varieties
which was found to be most cost effective, increasing
sugar yield around 0.5 to 1.5 ton sugar/ha. The Glua
Putih Mataram Sugar group uses chemical ripeners
in over 60% of the area under sugarcane.
Jamaica

The sugar harvest in Jamaica normally begins in

early D e c e m b e r and ends in late July or early August.
Sugarcane ripener Polaris was successfully applied
in wet north coast (Eastwood, 1974, 1976) where
climate was not conducive to good ripening. The
optimum responses were recorded 5-7 weeks after
application of 3.5 lb. Polaris per acre. In the wet

U s e of Polado (glyphosate) was discontinued in

South Africa soon after being registered as a ripener
because it had adverse residual effects when applied

246

warm temperatures. Thus, chemical ripening is most

e f f e c t i v e in s u g a r c a n e s c h e d u l e d for harvest in
October and November.

tO stressed cane ( D o n a l d s o n and Inman-Bamber,

1982). Fusilade (Fusilade Super) was found to be a
very effective alternative. The slow adoption of this
chemical by farmers was in some part due to the
r e l a t i v e l y s e v e r e s y m p t o m s of l e a f s c o r c h and
necrosis of stalk meristematic regions, previously
not associated with chemical ripening. A few cases
of poor ratooning of commercial fields were also
observed in South Africa, where the vigour and
growth of the crop were visibly retarded for several
months after the previous crop had been sprayed with
a high rate (75 g a.i./ha) of Fusilade Super.

The only ripeners currently labeled for use on

F l o r i d a s u g a r c a n e are M o n s a n t o ' s P o l a d o - L |
(glyphosate) and Syngenta's Touchdown | Their use
is restricted to "last ratoon cane only." Use on earlier
crops may result in decreased stands in the successive
ratoon crops. The application rate is 6 to 14 fl. oz.
of Polado-L and 8 to 18.5 oz. of Touchdown per
acre 3 to 5 weeks prior to harvest
CONCLUSION

Sugarcane varieties react differently to chemical

ripening. Much of the earlier research had been done
on the variety NCo376 (Donaldson and van Staden,
1989; Rostron, 1989) which responds better to
ripeners than the more recent commercial varieties.
The slightly higher rates of Fusilade Super needed
to ripen the variety N14 and the erratic responses of
N I 4 to ethephon are evidence that varieties need to
be screened individually for each chemical. In some
cases, a combination treatment was more economical
than only one ripener (piggy backing or tandem
treatment), such as variety N19 and N22 responded
consistently to the combination of ethephon followed
by Fusilade Super. Like N19, both NCo376 and N25
responded better to the combined ripener treatment
than to any of the single treatments. In 2000-2001
milling season a p p r o x i m a t e l y 52,000 hectares of
sugarcane
were sprayed
with r i p e n e r s by
commercial aircraft. The tandem treatment of ethrel/
Fusilade Suaper was most economical and effective
in varieties N22 and NI2. Fusilade Super was the
most effective ripener for N12 and CP66/I043. Cost
to benefit ratios of 4.1 and 4.9 were realised from
a p p l y i n g Fusilade Super and from the tandem
treatment. Experience with chemical ripening show
that use of correct variety, condition of the crop
and most a p p r o p r i a t e r i p e n e r treatment, cost to
benefit ratios greater than 10 can be achieved
(Donaldson, 1994, 1999, 2001).

Chemical ripening is now an integral part of cane

husbandry practices in many countries and areas.
Many field and commercial scale trials with Polaris,
glyphosate, Fusilade Super etc. have shown that these
c h e m i c a l s p r o d u c e d a fairly c o n s i s t e n t positive
response and improved cane quality. This technology
is widely used in USA (Louisiana, Hawaii, Florida),
Malawi, Trinidad, Cameroon, Colombia,Swaziland,
Fiji and other parts of the world (Shrivastava et al.,
2002). In C o l o m b i a where sugar p r o d u c t i v i t y is
around 12 tonne/ha/year, ripeners such as Roundup
and Fusilade-2000 are applied to over 60 percent
c u l t i v a t e d area. In Hawaii, e n t i r e area under
sugarcane cultivation is treated with glyphosate,
whereas in Swaziland and Zambia 60 and 40 perecent
sugarcane crop is ripened through Fusilade Super
and e t h e p h o n , r e s p e c t i v e l y . T h e s e studies have
indicated that ripeners could be integrated in sugar
production system in order to improve sugar recovery
and sugar industry profitability. Beside, being a
profitable venture it also allows the implementation
of following changes in harvesting schedule:
(i)

Early start of season with higher sugar

recovery levels.

(ii)

Earlier finish of season would prevent cane

d e t e r i o r a t i o n in areas w h e r e h i g h e r
temperatures prevails during late-crushing.

A n o t h e r r i p e n e r G a l l a n t Super ( h a l o x y f o p - R
m e t h y l ester) has been r e g i s t e r e d for ripening
autumn harvested sugarcane in South Africa. Little
is k n o w n a b o u t the r e s p o n s e s of the p r e s e n t
commercial varieties to this chemical. However, since
it has the same mode of action as Fusilade Super it
is likely that the efficacy of the product will be
governed by similar factors.

(iv)

Extension of milling in "less deterioration

prone areas" with significant increase in
sugar productivity and efficient utilization
of man power, plant and equipments.

USA ( F l o r i d a )

(v)

Based
on
variety-ripener-weather
interaction, it is possible to carve out the
most effective and profitable sequence of
crushing schedule for an area. In this way,
it is possible to take multiple advantage of
the benefits of chemical ripening.

(iii) Planned harvesting schedule and therefore

crop productivity in the following cycle can
be optimized.

Ripeners have been incorporated as an important

c o m p o n e n t of sugarcane production m a n a g e m e n t
s t r a t e g y . Natural r i p e n i n g is i n d u c e d by low
temperatures, water stress, nutrient stress and a
shortening of day length. Natural ripening is usually
limited during the early portion o f the Florida
sugarcane harvest season because of plentiful soil
moisture, high levels of plant available nitrogen and

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