Chemical Ripener and Boron Increase the Sucrose Accumulation of Sugarcane in Early Season.

The sugar industry can be directly affected by the ripening process and continuous supply of high quality raw material depends on the use of tools to optimize the production system, such as ripeners and micronutrients. Boron deficiency can affect the growth and development of plants, mostly due to its structural function in cell wall composition, but also to be involved in other functions such as protein synthesis and metabolism of carbohydrates. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of boron on sugarcane in areas with restricted availability of the element at the same time of application of the ripener trinexapac-ethyl. The experiments were conducted in ratoon sugarcane in early harvest in two years and two locations with different soil types and production environments, a total of four experiments. The treatments consisted in ethyl-trinexapac, trinexapac-ethyl + boron, boron and control treatment. The application of trinexapac-ethyl, applied isolated or combined with boron and the boron applied isolated anticipated harvest in more than fifteen days comparing with the control treatment and increased the sucrose content in plants in approximately 10%.