Irrigation management of sugarcane in the Brazilian Cerrado

The State of Goiás is the second-largest producer of sugarcane in Brazil. However, it still faces low productivity, primarily due to the lack of sugarcane varieties adapted to this region and its typical water deficit. Therefore, the objective of this work is to evaluate the performance of two sugarcane varieties subjected to different irrigation management practices in the Cerrado of Goiás. The study was conducted at the Federal University of Goiás (UFG) in the experimental area of the School of Agronomy. The experimental design utilized a completely randomized block arrangement in a split-plot design with four replications. The treatments consisted of two sugarcane varieties (RB 92579 and RB 855156) and three irrigation management methods: Rainfed, optimal water range-based and conventional (based on available soil water). These treatments had significant effects on the technological attributes of sugarcane in the Cerrado region of Goiás. Notably, sugarcane plants of the RB 92579 variety exhibited the best results when subjected to irrigation management based on the optimal water range. Key words: Saccharum spp., water deficit, available water.