Investigation of Missing Plant for Cane Plant and Development of Supplemental Planter

Abstract

The missing plant rate of sugarcane stock in the field in Okinawa might reach 25% or more. Supplementary planting was found necessary to prevent decreased production. The stalk inclination greatly influences the damage to the sugarcane stock when harvesting by machine. In particular, the damage rate of sprouts in the field was 35% or more when machines harvest against the direction of lodging. This value became twice or more the damage rate from harvesting following lodging. Supplementary planting of sugarcane is generally done by human labor. In this study, we developed a tractor-pulled supplemental planter for reducing labor. This machine can be used with ratoon cane plant of Jagal and Shimajiri marji soil and was demonstrated to be 14% more efficient than human labor.