SUSTAINABLE SUGARCANE CROPPING IN CHINA

Highlights

● Cost escalation and declining profits evident in sugarcane production in China.

● Monoculture and fertilizer overuse causes poor soil health, crop productivity plateau.

● Matching crop nutrient demand and supply key to recovery of sugarcane soils.

● Inorganic inputs need to be replaced with organic sources to restore soil health and sustainability.

● Integrated multidisciplinary solution for sustainable sugarcane cropping system needed.

Abstract

Demand for sugar is projected to grow in China for the foreseeable future. However, sugarcane production is unlikely to increase due to increasing production cost and decreasing profit margin. The persisting sugarcane yield plateau and the current cropping system with fertilizer overuse, soil acidification and pests and diseases remain the major productivity constraints. Sugarcane agriculture supports the livelihood of about 28 million farmers in South China; hence, sustaining it is a socioeconomic imperative. More compellingly, to meet the ever-increasing Chinese market demand, annual sugar production must be increased from the current 10 Mt to 16 Mt by 2030 of which 80% to 90% comes from sugarcane. Therefore, increasing sugar yield and crop productivity in an environmentally sustainable way must be a priority. This review examines the current Chinese sugarcane production system and discuss options for its transition to a green, sustainable cropping system, which is vital for the long-term viability of the industry. This analysis shows that reducing chemical inputs, preventing soil degradation, improving soil health, managing water deficit, provision of clean planting material, and consolidation of small farm holdings are critical requirements to transform the current farming practices into an economically and environmentally sustainable sugarcane cropping system.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

sustainable sugarcane cropping / soil health / rotation and intercropping / soil acidification

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the grant from National Natural Science Foundation of China (32001484) and Research Program Fund, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Compliance with ethics guidelines

Ting Luo, Prakash Lakshmanan, Zhongfeng Zhou, Yuchi Deng, Yan Deng, Linsheng Yang, Dongliang Huang, Xiupeng Song, Xihui Liu, Wen-Feng Cong, Jianming Wu, Xinping Chen, and Fusuo Zhang declare that they have no conflicts of interest or financial conflicts to disclose. This article does not contain any study with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s) 2022. Published by Higher Education Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)