Friday, June 27, 2014

CONCEPTS AND VALUE OF THE NITROGEN GUIDELINES CONTAINED IN THE AUSTRALIAN SUGAR INDUSTRY’S ‘SIX EASY STEPS’ NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

By B.L. SCHROEDER(1), A.P. HURNEY(2), A.W. WOOD(3), P.W. MOODY(4) and P.G. ALLSOPP(5).

BSES Limited,
(1) Bundaberg,
(2) Tully,
(5) Indooroopilly
(3) CSR Sugar, Macknade
(4) Queensland DERM, Indooroopilly

bschroeder@bses.org.au

KEYWORDS: Sugarcane, Nitrogen Management Guidelines, Validation, Value.

Abstract

THE AUSTRALIAN sugar industry currently faces unprecedented scrutiny of its use of nutrients
due to initiatives to protect the Great Barrier Reef from excess nutrients and sediment from
agricultural activities along the Queensland coast. However, this quest needs to be viewed in
conjunction with the need for a sustainable sugarcane industry.

A comprehensive program for nutrient management (the SIX EASY STEPS
program) has been developed recently for the Australian sugar industry. It replaces the
previous general guidelines that did not differentiate between regions or soil types and lacked
precision. The new system supports profitable and sustainable sugarcane production,
enhances environmental awareness, and is consistent with best practice.

The paper summarises the alternative N management strategies that occur within the
Australian sugar industry. It describes best-practice nutrient management and the concepts
that underpin the SIX EASY STEPS program, and explains the principles of the N
management guidelines used within the SIX EASY STEPS program and link this to N use
efficiency. It also assesses the value of the SIX EASY STEPS N management guidelines.

Trial results presented indicate that the SIX EASY STEPS N guidelines are robust and much
more in line with the concept of sustainability than any of the other strategies considered.
Calculation of the target N-use efficiency factors across the full range of SIX EASY
STEPS N guidelines, especially when all possible sources of N within the soil/plant
environment are included, strengthens the SIX EASY STEPS as an appropriate and fully
comprehensive nutrient management package. This is confirmed by the results of the
economic analyses of data from both small plot experiments and commercially-based
replicated strip trials conducted on-farm.

www.issct.org
Agronomy- Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., Vol. 27, 2010 
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