Effect of pre-harvest burning and applications of nitrogen fertilizer and vinasse on sugarcane industrlal characteristics

Practices of pre-harvest burning and the application of vinasse and N fertilizer are common in sugarcane cultivation. However, results of few long-term studies have been published. This study carried in sugarcane plantations of Cruangi sugar mill, Timbauba, state of Pernambuco, Brazil, located in the semi-arid-wet transition region of the State aimed at studying the effects of vinasse (80 m(3) ha(-1)) and nitrogen fertilizer (N - 80 kg ha(-1)) and two harvesting systems (with or without pre-harvest burning) on sugarcane yield and industrial parameters in a long-term study (1983 to 1999). The experiment was set up in a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design in complete randomized blocks with four replicates and had two phases (1983 - 1992 and 1992 - 1999). Nitrogen application negatively affected the technical characteristics of sugarcane, although the yield gain proportioned by this practice favoured the overall sugar yield and compensated the such negative effects. The application of vinasse and the maintenance of cane trash in the system had no consistent effect on the industrial sugarcane parameters, although once again there was an overall gain in sugar production due to the higher yields.