Effect of variety and cane yield on sugarcane potential trash Efecto de las variedades y su rendimiento cultural en la biomasa residual potencial

Low environmental impact production systems are a major concern in agroindustry and society, with food and sugarcane production being one of the areas where sustainability is a high priority. Green cane harvesting emerges as an important alternative for a cleaner production system, since it excludes the burning of residues, conserves soil and insolves the possibility of energy generation. An estimation of potential sugarcane available trash is very important in order to define management strategies. A research was carried out to determine the amount of dry trash available in cane fields before (SPT) and after green cane harvesting (SFT). Also, the relationship between SPT and SFT was studied in order to validate the precision of SPT as an SFT predictor using green cane combine harvesting for the main cultivated varieties in the sugarcane-growing area of Tucumán (LCP 85-384, TUCCP 77-42, CP 65-357 and RA 87-3). An increase in SPT was associated to cane yielding/ha, ranging from 6.9 to 16.0 t/ha of SPT for 32 to 104 t/ha of cane yielding. LCP 85-384 and CP 65-357 produced the highest amount of dry trash before harvest, while TUCCP 77-42 produced the least for similar cane yielding. Simultaneously the DT/CY ratio decreased with a mean value around 16% of cane yield and its use for estimating SPT was limited, as low coefficients of determination highlight. SPT appropriately predicted SFT under green cane combine harvesting conditions and the former one could be estimated using cane yielding/ha. La implementación de sistemas productivos con bajo impacto ambiental es una preocupación tanto para la agroindustria como para la sociedad, resultando la producción de azúcar una de las áreas donde la sustentabilidad es un objetivo prioritario y alcanzable. La cosecha en verde de la ca a de azúcar aparece como una importante alternativa para conformar sistemas de producción más limpios, prescindiendo de la quema de material vegetal y residuos de cosecha, conservando el suelo y ofreciendo una posibilidad para la generación de energía. Una estimación del potencial de residuos disponible de la ca a de azúcar cobra gran relevancia en el momento de definir estrategias de manejo. Se realizó un estudio para determinar la cantidad de biomasa residual disponible en los ca averales en forma previa (SPT) y posterior (SFT) a la cosecha mecanizada en verde para las principales variedades cultivadas en la provincia de Tucumán (LCP 85-384, TUCCP 77-42, CP 65-357 y RA 87-3). Además, se estudió la relación entre SPT y SFT a fin de validar la precisión de SPT como predictor de SFT en