Integrated Management of Saccharum officinarum Artsch-Wager Using Fertilizers in Forest Areas in the Context of Climate-Smart Agriculture, Central African Republic

Abstract

Despite its many uses, sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum L.) remains a neglected plant in scientific research in the CAR. The aim of our study is to assess the effects of fertilizers and different soil structures on sugarcane growth in terms of growth and production. A completely randomised block design (BCR) was used, with five treatments and three replications. Treatments were randomly assigned from 1 to 5 (T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5), and included 15 elementary plots measuring 3.6m² (3m by 1.2m). The variability of growth, yield and economic productivity parameters of sugarcane in pure cultivation according to the treatments was measured and quantified. Software ® version 3.1.2 and XLSTAT 2016 version 4.2.1 were used to analyse the data. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were performed on all the parameters. This study revealed variability in growth and production parameters according to the recommended treatments. T4 (sugar cane + NPK + cow dung), T2 (sugar cane + NPK) and T3 (sugar cane + NPK) had plants with the best growth in height and diameter, unlike T1 (control plot) and T5 (sugar cane + NPK + cow dung), which had the lowest values. Principal component analysis (PCA) confirms that the variability between treatments is 72.74% on the two axes (1 and 2). Parameters such as internode length, stipule length, bud size and stem diameter showed positive correlations between the agronomic variables. However, on axis 2, between the different types of ridge (open furrow, micro-basin and wide bed), there was variability in sugarcane growth and production. These observations have shown that the treatments adopted have no impact on morphological characteristics. They do not influence growth, development or productivity, which explains the high correlation between these parameters. Organo-mineral fertilisation can help to improve sugarcane production.