Morphophysiological parameters of sugarcane leaf in response to the residual effect of agricultural gypsum on the ratoon

Abstract

The sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is a species of the Poaceae family extremely important for commercial cultivation in different parts of the world. This study aimed at evaluating the influence of applying different doses of gypsum in morphophysiological parameters of sugarcane. The experiment was conducted at Dracena Plant, located in Dracena, São Paulo in October 2007 in the fourth cycle of ratoon sugarcane. The experimental design was a randomized blocks with four replications. The treatments were five rates of gypsum: 0, 1, 2, 4 and 8 t ha^-1 applied in the total area of the plot at the experiment installation. After harvesting the stems, leaves were collected to perform morphological analysis. The application of gypsum resulted in an increase in the number of stomata on the abaxial surface of the sugarcane leaves. The application of gypsum in the soil caused favorable changes in morphophysiology of ratoon leaves of sugarcane.