Lucas Moraes Jacomassi

Sugarcane ( Saccharum spp. L.) is a globally important crop, and foliar fertilization can enhance plant growth, yield, and stress tolerance. However, the use of multi‐nutrient complexes remains underexplored. Here, we investigated the effect of two multi‐nutrient foliar fertilizer applications at vegetative stage (N, K, S, B, Cu, Mn, Mo and Zn) and at maturation stage (P, K, Mg, S and B) in 13 field experiments in the early, mid‐late, and late sugarcane harvest seasons. Four treatments were compared: (i) no application of multi‐nutrient foliar fertilizer (control), (ii) application at the vegetative stage of sugarcane (V), (iii) application at the maturation stage (M), and (iv) application at both the vegetative and maturation stages (VMs). Application resulted in significant gains in all biometric parameters, sugar yield, and theoretically recoverable sugars; the largest increases occurred in VM. Bagasse, straw, and energy production followed the pattern of biometric parameters and increased by averages of 7.9%, 9.7%, and 9.7% compared to the control. In early harvest sugarcane, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase‐oxygenase, superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, and peroxidase activities and proline content were enhanced in M and VM, whereas hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) and malondialdehyde contents decreased in these treatments. In summary, multi‐nutrient foliar fertilization at the VMs enhanced sugarcane growth, yield, energy production, and quality across all harvest seasons while improving photosynthetic and antioxidant enzyme activities. The results demonstrate that tailoring multi‐nutrient foliar fertilizer application to the specific physiological and nutritional demands of each phenological stage can promote sugarcane development by reducing the production of stress‐related molecules and enhancing carbon assimilation.

Combining deep tillage (DT) with lime application at greater depths may improve sugarcane yield. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of conventional tillage (CT) and DT systems and liming on sugarcane productivity and soil physical attributes. The experiment was conducted in a clayey‐textured Rhodic Hapludox soil cultivated with sugarcane for two growing seasons (first and third ratoons) using a randomized block design with four treatments and four repetitions. The treatments consisted of DT without liming (DT0), DT with liming (DT2), CT without liming (CT0) and CT with liming (CT2). In addition to sugarcane stalk and sugar yields, macroporosity (MA), microporosity (MI), total soil porosity (TP), weighted average diameter (WAD), aggregate stability index (ASI), soil penetration resistance (SPR), pH, potential acidity (H + Al), total soil organic carbon (SOC), particulate organic carbon (POC), mineral‐associated organic carbon (MOC), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) were analysed. DT2 promoted the best soil conservation effect on sugarcane. In general, DT, regardless of lime application, reduced SOC and POC in soil surface layer. Nevertheless, in the long term, localized lime addition resulted in significant reductions in compaction, reaching values below 2 MPa. The soil fertility improvement provided by DT2 promoted increased sucrose concentrations and stalks yield. Considering that there was an improvement in the physical quality and fertility of soil for better plant development, the deep tillage with localized lime addition can be considered an effective alternative for sugarcane cultivation.