N. G. Inman-Bamber

• BSc (agric), MSc (agric), PhD
• Principal Investigator at James Cook University

Crop models like APSIM-Sugar have been used to assess the impacts of climate variability and change on sugarcane. APSIM-Sugar was recently upgraded to simulate sugarcane in Brazil and to cater for climate impacts under water-limited environments. In this context, our first objective was to evaluate the recent upgrade on determined traits for the mo...

*** Free access until December 11, 2021: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1dyLY1M2tVNfl2 *** Aiming to gain an understanding of how the genotype × environment × management (G×E×M) interaction influences the yield accumulation by elite sugarcane varieties in Brazil, a large dataset from field plot experiments carried out in two tropical sites (Guada...

Sugarcane is a perennial crop grown widely in tropical and subtropical regions of the world to provide food (sucrose), bio-ethanol and electricity. This chapter summarises the state of physiological knowledge of the development and growth processes of the sugarcane crop. The control of these processes by environmental, genetic, and agronomic factor...

Since new varieties are released continuously in the Brazilian sugarcane agro-industry, the understanding of their growth, development and yields are necessary. In Brazil, there is a lack of studies on sugarcane variety traits for canopy development and yields, especially those employed by the sugarcane modelling community. This paper assessed the...

Since new varieties are released continuously in the Brazilian sugarcane industry, the understanding of their growth, development and yields are necessary. Crop models are useful tools to understand genetic × environment × management (G × E × M) interactions in agroecosystems. Thus, the capability of a crop model for simulating variety differences...

Sugarcane in field plot experiments in tropical Brazil (Guadalupe, Piauí State, 6.6 °S), produced very high yields under non-limiting water and nutrients. Mean stalk dry mass at 8, 11.5 and 15 months were 40, 51 and 70 t/ha respectively for six varieties and six planting dates. These yields were explained by high but not excessive temperatures allo...

Objective: Understanding of the genetic variations in response to drought conditions of four physiological indexes, namely stomatal conductance (Gs), original light energy transformation efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm), leaf elongation (LE) and leaf relative water content (RWC) could help their adaption to the current breeding program. Method: The genet...

Process based agricultural systems models allow researchers to investigate the interactions between variety, environment and management. The ‘Sugar’ module in the Agricultural Productions Systems sIMulator (APSIM-Sugar) currently includes definitions for 14 sugarcane varieties, most of which are no longer commercially grown. This study evaluated th...

Genetic variation in traits affecting transpiration efficiency has been reported in sugarcane, but the impact of this variation on yield in a range of production environments needs to be estimated for assessing the priority and selection weightings to apply to these traits in crop improvement programs. A modelling approach may be useful and even ne...

Foreknowledge about sugarcane crop size can help industry members make more informed decisions. There exists many different combinations of climate variables, seasonal climate prediction indices, and crop model outputs that could prove useful in explaining sugarcane crop size. A data mining method like random forests can cope with generating a pred...

Sugarcane is the most important crop in tropical Australia. Limited water, increasing cost of water, and competing demands (e.g., environmental flows) all impact greatly on sugarcane profitability and expansion. Improving crop transpiration efficiency (TE, defined as growth per unit of water used) is one strategy to help address these issues. TE me...

In order to fully capture the benefits of rising CO2 in adapting agriculture to climate change, we first need to understand how CO2 affects crop growth. Several recent studies reported unexpected increases in sugarcane (C4) yields under elevated CO2, but it is difficult to distinguish direct leaf-level effects of rising CO2 on photosynthesis from i...

Foreknowledge of the size of the crop can help farmers, millers and marketers make better plans. Farmers can use this information to decide how much nitrogen to apply. Millers can better plan mill labour requirements and mill maintenance scheduling activities. Marketers armed with early and reliable information about crop size can better plan the s...

Abstract In water limited environments, biomass growth can be considered as the product of total water accessed by the crop, and the biomass produced per water transpired, termed transpiration efficiency (TE). In work reported in this paper we screened 100 clones representative of those available in the Australian sugarcane breeding program for tra...

Fifty-one genotypes of sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) or closely related germplasm were evaluated in a pot experiment to examine genetic variation in transpiration efficiency. Significant variation in whole plant transpiration efficiency was observed, with the difference between lowest and highest genotypes being about 40% of the mean. Leaf gas exchang...

New sugarcane cultivars are continuously developed to improve sugar industry productivity. Despite this sugarcane crop models such as the ‘Sugar’ module in the Agricultural Productions System sIMulator (APSIM-Sugar) have not been updated to reflect the most recent cultivars. The implications of misrepresenting cultivar parameters in APSIM-Sugar is...

Fifty-one genotypes of sugarcane or closely related germplasm were evaluated in a pot experiment to examine genetic variation in transpiration efficiency. Significant variation in whole-plant transpiration efficiency was observed, with the difference between lowest and highest genotypes being about 40% of the mean. Leaf gas exchange measurements we...

Stomatal conductance (gs) and canopy temperature have been used to estimate plant water status in many crops. The behavior of gs in sugarcane indicates that the internal leaf water status controlled by regular opening and closing of stomates. A large number of gs measurements obtained across varying moisture regimes, locations and crop cycles with...

Water limitation is a major production constraint for sugarcane worldwide. However to date there has been little investigation of patterns of genetic variation for response to water stress in sugarcane. Field experiments were conducted over three years under fully irrigated and managed water stress conditions at three locations in Northern Queensla...

Climate is a key driver of sugarcane production and all its by-products. Consequently, it is impor- tant to understand how climate change will influence sugarcane crop productivity. Ensembles from a crop model and climate projections form part of the dual ensemble methodology to assess climate change impacts on sugarcane productivity for three majo...

Fifty-one genotypes of sugarcane or closely related germplasm were evaluated in a pot experiment to examine genetic variation in transpiration efficiency. Significant variation in whole-plant transpiration efficiency was observed, with the difference between lowest and highest genotypes being about 40% of the mean. Leaf gas exchange measurements we...

Executive summary Recent work in Brazil and Florida had shown strong responses of sugarcane to elevated CO2, even under well-watered conditions. These results were not expected from current understanding of leaf physiology, given that sugarcane is a C4 plant, possessing a photosynthetic pathway that concentrates CO2 and achieves close to optimal r...

Abstract ACHIEVING high water use efficiency is important in both rainfed and irrigated crops. Developing sugarcane varieties with high transpiration efficiency is one approach to help achieve this goal. However, sugarcane breeding programs currently do not explicitly target improved water use efficiency. A question arises as to whether more or fas...

ABSTRACT Crop modelling technologies have the potential to improve farm management decisions in the sugar industry. Models such as the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) are already widely used to support decisions of irrigation and fertilization scheduling and forecasting yields based on climatology. Several commercial sugarcane cul...

THE POTENTIAL of crop modelling to aid farm management decisions has been demonstrated in the sugar industry. Models such as the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) have been used in scheduling irrigation and fertilisation and for forecasting yields. APSIM models were developed based on cultivar parameters of a limited number of trait...

Climate is a key driver of sugarcane production and its by-products. Given the significant contribution of sugarcane production to economic growth and development in Australia, it is critical to understand how this production system will be impacted by climate change. This project investigated the impact climate change will have on productivity and...

A synopsis of yield-building and yield-limiting processes of sugarcane is timely given the difficulty facing many sugarcane industries in improving cane yields and sucrose %cane. Biomass and sucrose yields accumulate with the development of the leaf canopy, which progressively intercepts increasing amounts of radiation that is used in photosynthesi...

Loss of nitrogen in deep drainage from agriculture is an important issue for environmental and economic reasons, but limited field data is available for tropical crops. In this study, nitrogen (N) loads leaving the root zone of two major humid tropical crops in Australia, sugarcane and bananas, were measured. The two field sites, 57 km apart, had a...

THE CAPABILITY OF the APSIM-Sugarcane model to simulate N management in the sugarcane farming system is well demonstrated for most Australian production areas. In particular, the APSIM-Sugarcane model has been used to investigate the impact of trash management on sugarcane yields and N dynamics, N leaching below the root zone and management options...

Water limitation is a major production constraint for sugarcane worldwide. However, to date, there has been little investigation of patterns of genetic variation in the response to water stress in sugarcane. Field experiments were conducted over 3 years under fully irrigated and managed water stress conditions at two locations in Northern Queenslan...

Two different replicated pot experiments were conducted under glasshouse conditions in 2 years to determine the variation in transpiration efficiency (TE) in a set of genetically diverse sugarcane clones. In both experiments, thirteen test clones (six commercial varieties and seven introgression clones selected based on their field performance) wer...

In Australia water stress is estimated to cost the sugar industry an average of $260 million (AUD) per annum in lost production. With the predicted increased frequency of drought events the industry is now considering breeding for drought adaptation after water stress inflicted yield losses of more than $400 million in the years 2002–2004, in one r...

Until now raw sugar has been the predominant commodity produced from sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrids) with the exception of Brazil where fermentable sugars are used to produce ethanol. Worldwide interest in renewable energy has focussed attention on total biomass production of ‘energy canes’ rather than sucrose yield alone. Clones selected for bi...

An increase in commercial cane sugar (CCS) is up to 1.8 times more valuable than a sucrose yield increase due to improved cane yield, because increased CCS does not attract high marginal costs in harvesting, transport and milling as does increased cane yield. Despite the priority in research and development investment to increasing CCS in past deca...

Climate change could affect sugarcane production directly through biophysical processes and indirectly as governments start implementing energy and environmental policies. Life cycle analyses indicate that sugarcane offers large advantages over other crops such as corn for biofuel production. As the fiber component of sugarcane becomes more valuabl...

Scientists predict that global agricultural lands will expand over the next few decades due to increasing demands for food production and an exponential increase in crop-based biofuel production. These changes in land use will greatly impact biogeochemical and biogeophysical cycles across the globe. It is therefore important to develop models that...

Sucrose content has reached ceiling levels in several countries despite aggressive crossing and selection programmes aimed at improving this important trait for the sugarcane industry. Much of the recent research effort has been directed towards molecular means for improving sucrose content and while some breakthroughs have been made in the laborat...

LIMITED water supplies have a significant impact on sugarcane yields across the Australian sugarcane industry and, in particular, the Central region. Applying irrigation water at the right time, to maximise yield, is a difficult task and traditional irrigation scheduling tools provide little assistance. This paper reports how crop modelling was use...

SEASONAL climate forecasts can now predict climate with significant skill and lead times in the major cane growing regions of Australia. However, despite these meteorological advancements relatively little research has examined the 'on-the-ground' economic impact of these forecasts. This lack of quantitative knowledge creates an atmosphere of uncer...

Marketers rely on early and accurate yield forecasts to increase industry profitability by improved forward selling strategies. Crop forecasts are required 6-7 months prior to the commencement of harvest. These forecasts need to be updated regularly during the growing season. In this paper, we describe how crop growth models and remote sensing mode...

While substantial effort has been expended on molecular techniques in an attempt to break through the apparent ceiling for sucrose content (SC) in sugarcane stalks, molecular processes and genetics limiting sucrose accumulation remain unclear. Our own studies indicate that limiting expansive growth with water stress will enhance sucrose accumulatio...

Mathematical simulation of crop growth and water relations has become indispensable to agricultural science and practice. A critical assessment of how modelling has contributed to the development of crop science and to the management of crop production and natural resources in South Africa (SA) over the past 25 years could give new perspectives on...

Relatively little is known about the physiological basis for variation in sucrose content among sugarcane clones despite substantial research at the molecular and biochemical levels. We used irrigation and continuous monitoring of photosynthesis and plant extension rate to modify dry matter partitioning in four clones differing widely in sucrose co...

Accurate yield forecasts are pivotal for the success of any agricultural industry that plans or sells ahead of the annual harvest. Biophysical models that integrate information about crop growing conditions can give early insight about the likely size of a crop. At a point scale, where highly detailed knowledge about environmental and management co...

FOR several years, the MAFIA Grower Group in the Burdekin region has taken a proactive approach to managing their farming systems. As a consequence, the group has actively engaged with researchers to gain a better understanding of the natural resource management, productivity and economic issues relating to their farming enterprises. In early 2007,...

Limited water availability in dry cane growing regions poses a challenge to sugarcane farmers, Water allocations tend to be lower at the beginning of the water season, and are increased during the season when inflows are captured. Probabilistic information reflecting the likelihood of specified increases in water allocation is not available to suga...

Sugar production systems are characterised by complex interactions between economic, ecological and social components, including climatic and biophysical variability and uncertainty and multiple decision-makers. The development of decision support systems (DSSs) has been one way in which scientists have attempted to help agricultural industries dea...

High sucrose content (SC) in sugarcane stalks is a priority for all sugarcane industries world wide. Partitioning to sucrose in the cane stalk is related to the supply of photo-assimilate and the demand for assimilate by other organs. If photosynthesis could be maintained, but leaf and stalk growth constrained, by genetics or management during the...

SUGARCANE PHYSIOLOGY has been neglected for several decades in all cane growing countries including Australia. However an international physiology workshop in 2003 funded by the Sugar Research and Development Corporation stimulated interest in this type of research in Australia and South Africa at least. The proceedings of the workshop were publish...

For marketers, advance knowledge on sugarcane crop size permits more confidence in implementing forward selling, pricing, and logistics activities. In Australia, marketing plans tend to be initialised in December, approximately 7 months prior to commencement of the next harvest. Improved knowledge about crop size at such an early lead time allows m...

Adoption of decision support services (DSS) based on crop growth models has been poor and yet the concept of transferring an increasing body of scientific knowledge via DSSs remains attractive. This study explores the use of the Internet and participatory action research (PAR) to develop an irrigation management service called WaterSense for sugarc...

Knowledge of water relations is fundamental to improved crop management in regions where irrigation is practiced or where dry conditions cannot be avoided. The objective of this review was to assess where knowledge of sugarcane water relations must be strengthened in order for progress to be made in irrigation management as well as genetic improvem...

In Australian sugarcane crops, growth in terms of radiation use efficiency (RUE) can appear to slow down well before final crops are harvested, despite conditions that are considered favourable for growth. In order to assess the extent and cause of this reduced growth phenomenon (RGP), 14 experiments conducted in Australia were examined. From these...

International sugarcane farming practice has been significantly influenced by crop physiology research, both directly, and indirectly via process-based, simulation growth models. These models not only operationalise our basic physiology under-standing but also serve to identify knowledge gaps and priority research areas. This paper explores the int...

A literature review was undertaken to assess current knowledge on how root system growth and function influences sugarcane productivity. Sugarcane root systems are commonly depicted as comprising highly branched superficial roots, downward-oriented buttress roots and deeply penetrating agglomerations of vertical roots known as rope roots. It is unc...

In Australia about 60% of sugar produced from sugarcane depends to some extent on irrigation. Regional water supplies are often limited and the pressure on irrigators to defend or improve their farming practices can be quite severe. Compared to other crops, little is known about how far water can be stretched in sugarcane without affecting sugar yi...

Using sugarcane as a case study, this paper shows how an agronomic model can be used to estimate the marginal value of stored irrigation water with uncertain future rain. We do this by estimating production functions that have the water available for use as the variable factor of production (referring to them as allocation production functions). Th...

Sugar industries in Australia and Swaziland rely on irrigation to a large extent (60 and 100%, respectively) to produce a viable crop. Some large irrigation schemes are vulnerable to degradation of ground water quality and it is important to have reliable estimates of water use in order to better calculate runoff and drainage losses from sugarcane...

Partitioning of dry matter (DM) in sugarcane is of interest for two fundamental reasons. Firstly, sugar production depends directly on partitioning of crop biomass to the stalk and then to sucrose stored largely in stalk parenchyma. Secondly, various DM components of the stalk and particularly sucrose concentration are used to calculate the value o...

Sugarcane industries worldwide are exposed to uncertainty associated with variable climate. This variability produces impacts across an integrated value chain comprising of the following industry sectors: cane growing, harvesting and transport, milling, and marketing. The purpose of this paper is to advocate a comprehensive systems approach for usi...

An analysis of the physiological consequences of water deficit during the first half of the season on sugarcane productivity, can aid the evaluation of yield expectations under rainfed systems and the opportunities for saving irrigation water early in the season. Four field experiments were conducted at Ayr in the semi-arid tropics of Australia. Ir...

A range of biophysical and financial factors, including the crop response to available water and the cost of irrigation, significantly impact on the economic benefits from using irrigation. Research tools have been developed in a multi-disciplinary environment to allow for the assessment of the economic benefits associated with using irrigation. Th...

The development of recommendations for drying-off management in sugarcane is difficult due to climatic variability and lack of knowledge of the sensitivity of changes in sucrose content and cane yield to severity of water deficit. Relative cane biomass targets were developed for drying-off irrigated sugarcane before harvest based on derived relatio...

Plant extension is one of the first components of plant growth to be affected by water stress. Its importance led to the development of an inexpensive semi-automatic growth transducer of sufficient accuracy for hourly recording. The instrument, based on a 10-turn potentiometer, could detect 0.25 mm extension growth. Thirty transducers were installe...

Canopy development in sugarcane is slow compared to annual crops and sucrose production per annum can be substantially reduced if harvest age is limited by pests or other factors. A better understanding of factors affecting canopy development may allow farmers to develop more efficient planting and harvest schedules as well providing a basis for cu...

During the past decade the age at which sugarcane is har­ vested has been reduced considerably, largely to control El­ dana saccharina Walker, a borer which thrives in older cane. It is necessary to consider how other factors may influence harvest age and season, and to consider how to adjust har­ vest schedules if new technology should lead to a r...

The economic optimum harvest age for sugar-cane depends to a large extent on how rates of photosynthesis and respiration change with age. A simple model of the carbon balance in which a constant photosynthetic efficiency was assumed, accounted to a large extent for dry matter accumulation by cv. NCo376 grown under irrigation. Rain-fed crops of this...

There is need in the South African Sugar Industry for a clear understanding ofthe effects ofage and season ofharvest on cane yield and quality. One of the keys to this under­ standing is the knowledge of how sugarcane grown with ad­ equate water and fertilizer accumulates dry matter. Dry matter yields obtained from the literature and by sampling cr...

The growth and water use of three sugar cane cultivars, NCo376, N12 and N14, were measured under varying degrees of water stress controlled by means of a movable rain shelter. Plots of a first ratoon cane crop were allowed to desiccate on two occasions until about three leaves remained alive oh each stalk. Other plots were irrigated regularly. Dest...

Sugarcane yields in South Africa are restricted largely by drought and little is yet known about adjustments to water stress amongst locally bred cultivars. Plants of two cultivars were grown in 80-1 bins and were kept free of water stress (W1) or were subjected to either moderate stress (W2) or severe stress (W3) on four occasions. Threshold leaf...

A first ratoon crop was subjected to two 55-day periods of water stress using a rainshelter. Irrigation was withheld when the crop was 146 days old (December 1984), and again at 237 days. Daylight plant extension rate (PER) dropped below potential 12 and 20 days after imposing stress for the first and second time respectively. A decrease in PER was...

There are several areas in the South African sugar industry where the ubiquitous variety, NCo 376, is being superseded by newer varieties. Growers have a choice of varieties which have outyielded NCo 376 in trials under a wide range of conditions. There are others which have yielded more than NCo 376 in certain conditions. It is opportune to report...

planting are shown in Table 1. The varieties NCo 376, N52/ 219 and J59/3 were used and each received either 0, 45, 90 or Nutrient requirements of sugarcane in South Africa have 135 kg N/ha in the plant crop and 0, 50, 100 or 150 kg N/ha been determined largely for variety NCO 376 which constitutes in the ratoon crops. plots received 83 kg phosphoru...

The results of several variety trials that suffered various degrees of water stress in a recent drought are reported. In one trial at Pongola on a deep Shorrocks loam, four degrees of stress were artificially imposed on three varie- ties, NCo 376, N52/219 and N11. NCo 376 showed the greatest sensitivity tfo water stress although it was not always o...

Three sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor, L. Moench) varieties, RIO, RAMADA and ROMA were grown experi- mentally from seed that was imported from the USA and subsequently from seed that was bulked locally, in the mist- belt of the Natal Midlands. ROMA, the tallest and latest maturing variety outyielded the other two sorghum cultivars in a variety trial...

The results for the first season of a three-year feasibility study on sugar beet production in Natal are presented. Serial plantings from October to March at four localities, r,mging in elevation from 1 070 n~ at Seven Oaks to 1 660 m at Kam- berg, show that the main problem likely to be encounte:red in sugar beet production is Cercospora leaf spot...

The results of the first year of a three year feasibility study on the growing of sugar beet in Natal showed that Cercospora beticola is likely to be the most serious agronomic problem. In the second season of this study, the disease control measures of planting date, varietal resistance and fungicide application were investigated at two sites. The...

The results of eleven experiments dealing with (1) lime appli- cation, (2) herbicides, (3) nematicides, (4) varieties, (5) fungi- cides, (6) sowing date and (7) yield potential, are discussed. Lime was necessary, not to create a more neutral soil reaction, but to eliminate most of the exchangeable aluminium in the soil. It was necessary to incorpor...

Daily crop water use of irrigated sugarcane was estimated using a new version of the Penman-Monteith (PM) evapo­ ration equation which was incorporated into the CANE­ GRO model. Daily water use ofa plant and two ratoon crops of sugarcane growing in three weighing lysimeters (2,4 X 1,5 X 1,2 m) at Pongola were used to test the validity of the PM, es...