Effects of Fertiliser Treatments on Agronomic and Technological Parameters of Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) in the Integrated Agricultural Unit of SUCRIVOIRE-Zuénoula, Côte d'Ivoire

Abstract

Mineral fertilisation is one of the main ways to improve sugarcane productivity and quality, but simultaneously optimising these two objectives remains a major challenge in tropical production systems. This study, conducted at the Integrated Agricultural Unit (UAI) in Zuénoula (Côte d’Ivoire), evaluated the impact of five types of fertilisers, including a new formulation rich in Ca, S, and Mg, on the agronomic and technological parameters of sugarcane. Data were analysed using one-way ANOVA (with Tukey's HSD post-hoc test) and simple linear regression after verifying normality (Shapiro-Wilk test) and homoscedasticity (Bartlett's test). The results showed that treatment (T1) NPK 18-9-24 produced the highest cane yield at 82.88 ± 4.17 tc.ha⁻¹ and promoted vegetative growth. In contrast, treatment (T2) SPT + KCl improved processing quality, with a purity of 93.53 ± 0.32% and a sucrose content of 11.12 ± 0.21%. Treatment (T3) NPK + SPT + KCl provided the best compromise, with a cane yield of 81.15 ± 2.48 tc.ha⁻¹ and a purity of 91.98 ± 0.26%. A significant productivity-quality trade-off was observed between stem height and juice purity (R² = 0.159; p < 0.05). The new formulation (T4) 13-10-30 + 3Ca + 1S + 1.3Mg did not improve technological quality. These results indicate that an appropriate fertilisation strategy can reduce the trade-off between productivity and quality, while K and S enrichment is an agronomic option for improving the technological quality of sugarcane. By explicitly quantifying this trade-off using an integrated approach, this study provides a preliminary decision-making framework for optimising fertilisation in the sugarcane industry.