PF Ortiz1, AM Arroyo1, JGN Bolivar1 and EG Sanchez2
1Centro de Investigación de la Caña de Azúcar de Colombia – CENICAÑA, Cali, Colombia; pfsanguino@cenicana.org
2Ingenio Providencia, Colombia
In the Valle del Río Cacua, most of the sugarcane area is irrigated using surface irrigation. This is applied up to five times per crop cycle, using between 1,200 and 2,500 m³/ha, according to environmental factors, crop stage, soil characteristics, and preparation practices. With the current reduction in water availability, there has been a push to find strategies to optimize the soil-water relationship and improve surface irrigation efficiency. This study, conducted on clay loam Mollisols, evaluated the impact of four soil preparation alternatives on the advance rate of water (ARW) and water used (WU) during irrigation, comparing them with conventional preparation. A randomized block design was implemented with the following treatments: (1) Conventional (T1), (2) Mechanical bedformer (T2), (3) Mechanical bedformer + Chisel plow (T3), and (4) Conventional Reduced (T4). The use of Mechanicall bedformer (T2) in soil preparation achieved the lowest water used, with approximately 1,300 m³/ha per irrigation event. This treatment significantly increased the advance rate of water (ARW). In contrast, the other treatments required between 2,000 and 2,500 m³/ha, demonstrating that Mechanical bedformer (T2) can reduce water used in sugarcane cultivation by up to 27%. Integrating practices, such as the Mechanical bedformer (T2) in soil preparation, optimizes the soil-water relationship, minimizing excesses and losses during surface irrigation. These techniques promote more efficient and sustainable use of water resources in sugarcane production, which is crucial given the current challenges related to water availability in the region.