INFLUENCE OF SUGARCANE BURNING ON SOIL CARBON AND NITROGEN RELEASE UNDER DROUGHT AND EVAPOTRANSPIRATION CONDITIONS IN A MEXICAN SUGARCANE SUPPLY ZONE

Abstract

Sugarcane cultivation is an agricultural activity of worldwide importance. This crop has been cultivated in Mexico for centuries, impacting important productive areas like the study region called Huasteca Potosina which is located at the Central-East part of Mexico. The relationship between soil conditions, weather and production per hectare allows identifying the edaphological and climatic conditions (aptitude levels) for cultivating sugarcane in the study area. The objective of this research work is to analyze the relation between the cultivated hectares and production of sugarcane. Likewise, to explain its behavior and interpret the contribution of N and C released to the atmosphere for burning sugar cane in association with events and meteorological parameters involved in the flux of water between soil and atmosphere such as drought, evapotranspiration and rainfall. The methods and indicators for burning waste provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the value of potential evapotranspiration as Thornthwaite and drought severity index were applied in order to understand the correlations between the drought severity index and potential evapotranspiration, and between C and N release and potential rainfall availability. The results show the increment of harvested hectares and the loss of water from the soil by the increase of periods of drought events and evapotranspiration. The volatilized nutrients in soil varied from 1.32 x 10 5 to 2.17 x 10 5 t for C and from 1.32 x 10 3 tto 2.17 x 10 3 t for N during the burning of sugarcane, affecting production levels with values fluctuating between 38 t/ha to 77 t/ha for the term of 1990-2010.