How can sugarcane research in the Everglades Agricultural Area enable natural land managers and farmers to work together to reduce phosphorus and restore natural hydrology?

Part 4: Sugarcane Physiology Research For Environmentally Sustainable Production

United States Department of Agriculture Agriculture Research Unit Crop Genetics and Environmental Research Unit Gainsville, FL 32611

Long-Term Goal:

Develop sugarcane varieties that are productive at high water tables.

Benefits:

1. Allows a more natural Everglades hydro-pattern.
2. Decreases oxidation of muck soils (i.e. soil subsidence).
3. Decreases chemicals pumped from sugarcane fields.

Objectives:

1. Identify physiological mechanisms in sugarcane plants conferring high water tolerance.
2. Identify root and stem anatomical structures beneficial to high water table conditions.
3. Develop screening criteria for selecting high water tolerant sugarcane varieties.
4. Assist in development of new sugarcane varieties specifically for high water-table conditions.
5. Evaluate the effect of timing and duration of high water tables on sugarcane growth.

Progress:

1. Examined root anatomical structure in more than 60 US and Australian sugarcane lines.
2. Preliminary experiments highlight the possible importance of stem anatomy in tolerance.
3. Examined the effect of aerenchyma in root tissue on sugarcane drought tolerance.
   Sugarcane Root Cross-Section

   (Click on image above for a full-sized version.)

   
   

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