Comparación entre dos estrategias de riego en la caña de azúcar (Saccharum officinarum).

Under current conditions it is necessary to use water in agriculture efficiently and to maximize production; that is why the present work aims to study the influence of irrigation management on the yields of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) planted in Red Ferralitic soils. The study was carried out in the experimental block of the Sugarcane Territorial Research Station (ETICA), municipality Quivicán, Mayabeque province, where irrigation management by phonological phases of sugar cane was compared from the proposal of the INICA Irrigation and Drainage Service with the "Irrigation schedule" designed for the definition of the time of irrigation and the water volume to be applied. The irrigation method used was the reel machine. As a result it was necessary to apply 27 irrigations with total net standard of 9 450 m3·ha-1 in cane plant. Comparing the operating irrigation regime with that scheduled for the high growth phase of the crop shows that according to the schedule 33 irrigations with a total sheet of 1 000.3 mm would be needed to maintain in the soil a level of moisture suitable for the good development of the crop. The irrigation regime proposed by the Irrigation and Drainage Service estimates the needs in the budding phase by 29,5%, while in the long period phase, where physiological processes that affect yields occur, there is a deficit of 144,7 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]