World Sugar Research Articles

Deep Learning-Based Disease Detection in Sugarcane Leaves: Evaluating EfficientNet Models

Sugarcane is a crucial agricultural crop, providing 75% of the world's sugar production. Like all plant species, any disease that affects sugarcane can significantly impact yield and planning. Traditional manual methods for diagnosing diseases in sugarcane leaves are slow, inefficient, and often lack accuracy. In this study, we present a deep learning-based approach for the robust detection of diseases in sugarcane leaves. Specifically, we trained and evaluated all models from the EfficientNetv1 and EfficientNetv2 architectures, which are among the most notable convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures, using the publicly available Sugarcane Leaf Dataset. This dataset includes 11 disease classes and a total of 6748 images. Additionally, we compared these models with other popular CNN models. Our findings reveal that there is no direct correlation between model complexity, depth, and accuracy for the 11-class sugarcane dataset. Among the 13 models tested, EfficientNet-b6 and InceptionV4 achieved the highest accuracy rates of 93.39% and 93.10%, respectively. These results have a big impact on the ways managers can manage diseases and the agricultural processes of sugarcane production. A deep learning-based disease detection system facilitating the diagnostic process can, in turn, result in a more accurate and faster identification of diseases. That may enable farmers and agricultural managers to make timely and informed decisions, cutting down crop loss and enhancing the whole yield. These highlight the potential of deep learning in developing fast, accurate, and automatic disease diagnosis systems, which can significantly improve disease management and increase the yield of sugarcane.

Genomic characterization of bZIP gene family and patterns of gene regulation on Cercospora beticola Sacc resistance in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.).

Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is one of the most important sugar crops, accounting for nearly 30% of the world's annual sugar production. And it is mainly distributed in the northwestern, northern, and northeastern regions of China. However, Cercospora leaf spot (CLS) is the most serious and destructive foliar disease during the cultivation of sugar beet. In plants, the bZIP gene family is one of important family of transcription factors that regulate many biological processes, including cell and tissue differentiation, pathogen defense, light response, and abiotic stress signaling. Although the bZIP gene family has been mentioned in previous studies as playing a crucial role in plant defense against diseases, there has been no comprehensive study or functional analysis of the bZIP gene family in sugar beet with respect to biotic stresses. In this study, we performed a genome-wide analysis of bZIP family genes (BvbZIPs) in sugar beet to investigate their phylogenetic relationships, gene structure and chromosomal localization. At the same time, we observed the stomatal and cell ultrastructure of sugar beet leaf surface during the period of infestation by Cercospora beticola Sacc (C. beticola). And identified the genes with significant differential expression in the bZIP gene family of sugar beet by qRT-PCR. Finally we determined the concentrations of SA and JA and verified the associated genes by qRT-PCR. The results showed that 48 genes were identified and gene expression analysis indicated that 6 BvbZIPs were significantly differential expressed in C. beticola infection. It is speculated that these BvbZIPs are candidate genes for regulating the response of sugar beet to CLS infection. Meanwhile, the observation stomata of sugar beet leaves infected with C. beticola revealed that there were also differences in the surface stomata of the leaves at different periods of infection. In addition, we further confirmed that the protein encoded by the SA signaling pathway-related gene BVRB_9g222570 in high-resistant varieties was PR1, which is closely related to systemic acquired resistance. One of the protein interaction modes of JA signal transduction pathway is the response of MYC2 transcription factor caused by JAZ protein degradation, and there is a molecular interaction between JA signal transduction pathway and auxin. Despite previous reports on abiotic stresses in sugar beet, this study provides very useful information for further research on the role of the sugar beet bZIP gene family in sugar beet through experiments. The above research findings can promote the development of sugar beet disease resistance breeding.

Genetic Engineering for Enhancing Sugarcane Tolerance to Biotic and Abiotic Stresses.

Sugarcane, a vital cash crop, contributes significantly to the world's sugar supply and raw materials for biofuel production, playing a significant role in the global sugar industry. However, sustainable productivity is severely hampered by biotic and abiotic stressors. Genetic engineering has been used to transfer useful genes into sugarcane plants to improve desirable traits and has emerged as a basic and applied research method to maintain growth and productivity under different adverse environmental conditions. However, the use of transgenic approaches remains contentious and requires rigorous experimental methods to address biosafety challenges. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) mediated genome editing technology is growing rapidly and may revolutionize sugarcane production. This review aims to explore innovative genetic engineering techniques and their successful application in developing sugarcane cultivars with enhanced resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses to produce superior sugarcane cultivars.

Data-Efficient Vision Transformer Models for Robust Classification of Sugarcane

Sugar cane is an important agricultural product that provides 75% of the world's sugar production. As with all plant species, any disease affecting sugarcane can significantly impact yields and planning. Diagnosing diseases in sugarcane leaves using traditional methods is slow, inefficient, and often lacking in accuracy. This study presents a deep learning-based approach for accurate diagnosis of diseases in sugarcane leaves. Specifically, training and evaluation were conducted on the publicly available Sugarcane Leaf Dataset using leading ViT (Vision Transformer) architectures such as DeiT3-Small and DeiT-Tiny. This dataset includes 11 different disease classes and a total of 6748 images. Additionally, these models were compared with popular CNN models. The findings of the study show that there is no direct relationship between model complexity, depth, and accuracy for the 11-class sugarcane dataset. Among the 12 models tested, the DeiT3-Small model showed the highest performance with 93.79% accuracy, 91.27% precision, and 90.96% F1-score. These results highlight that rapid, accurate, and automatic disease diagnosis systems developed using deep learning techniques can significantly improve sugarcane disease management and contribute to increased yields.

Vernalization promotes bolting in sugar beet by inhibiting the transcriptional repressors of BvGI.

Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.), a biennial sugar crop, contributes about 16% of the world's sugar production. The transition from vegetative growth, during which sugar accumulated in beet, to reproductive growth, during which sugar exhausted in beet, is determined by vernalization and photoperiod. GIGANTEA (GI) is a key photoperiodic flowering gene that is induced by vernalization in sugar beet. To identify the upstream regulatory factors of BvGI, candidate transcription factors (TF) that were co-expressed with BvGI and could bind to the BvGI promoter were screened based on weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and TF binding site prediction. Subsequently, their transcriptional regulatory role on the BvGI was validated through subcellular localization, dual-luciferase assays and yeast transformation tests. A total of 7,586 differentially expressed genes were identified after vernalization and divided into 18 co-expression modules by WGCNA, of which one (MEcyan) and two (MEdarkorange2 and MEmidnightblue) modules were positively and negatively correlated with the expression of BvGI, respectively. TF binding site predictions using PlantTFDB enabled the screening of BvLHY, BvTCP4 and BvCRF4 as candidate TFs that negatively regulated the expression of BvGI by affecting its transcription. Subcellular localization showed that BvLHY, BvTCP4 and BvCRF4 were localized to the nucleus. The results of dual-luciferase assays and yeast transformation tests showed that the relative luciferase activity and expression of HIS3 was reduced in the BvLHY, BvTCP4 and BvCRF4 transformants, which suggested that the three TFs inhibited the BvGI promoter. In addition, real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR showed that BvLHY and BvTCP4 exhibited rhythmic expression characteristics similar to that of BvGI, while BvCRF4 did not. Our results revealed that vernalization crosstalked with the photoperiod pathway to initiate bolting in sugar beet by inhibiting the transcriptional repressors of BvGI.

Optimizing sustainable multimodal distribution networks in the context of carbon pricing, with a case study in the Thai sugar industry

Transportation is a major cause of energy consumption and emissions which can be reduced by optimizing routings and using alternative modes of transport. This paper relates to the strategic design of multimodal transportation networks. It presents a general model of green vehicle routing problems that supports strategic decision-making by identifying optimal solutions and provides data on costs and emissions. Three general linear programming models were developed that optimize multimodal distribution networks that could be applied in many industries. Model I evaluates carbon emissions; model II assesses carbon emissions and capacity constraints; and model III establishes total costs including transportation, handling, storage, fuel and carbon costs.Thailand is the third largest world sugar exporter in the world and is piloting carbon pricing, which will affect energy intensive industries, including the sugar industry. The models are applied using data obtained from a collaborating company. The research contributed to practice by informing managerial decisions relating to the export of sugar from the factory. This included evaluating the possible use of a dry port with rail connections, which could reduce transportation and carbon costs by 54.3 % and facilitate the building of another factory to increase exports.

AMMI and GGE biplot analysis for genotype × environment interactions affecting the yield and quality characteristics of sugar beet.

Sugar beet, an important sugar crop, contributes significantly to the world's sugar production. However, genotype-environment interactions (GEI) often affect the quality characteristics of sugar beet. Hence, understanding the effects of GEI on sugar beet quality can aid in identifying high-quality genotypes that can adapt to different environments. Traditional variance analysis can only be used to examine the yield of a variety and not its specific adaptability to specific conditions. Therefore, more comprehensive analytical methods are required to evaluate the characteristics of the variety under specific environments. Additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) and genotype main effect and genotype × environment interaction (GGE) biplot models can be employed to comprehensively evaluate different varieties and address the drawbacks associated with a single evaluation method. Moreover, these models also allow us to explore new varieties more objectively and comprehensively. In this study, the adaptability and stability of 16 sugar beet varieties, in terms of yield and sugar content, were evaluated using AMMI and GGE biplot analysis in seven pilot projects undertaken in 2022. In the assessment of a small but significant proportion of the total GEI variance for the two qualitative traits (yield and sugar content), 80.58% of the variance was explained by the cumulative contribution of IPC1, IPC2, and IPC3. AMMI and GGE biplots clearly highlighted that KWS4207 (G3) exhibited high and stable quality. They also demonstrated that the experiments in Jalaid Banner (Inner Mongolia) (E7) were the most representative. Together, the results suggested that the comprehensive application of AMMI and GGE biplot analysis allowed for a more comprehensive, scientific, and effective evaluation of sugar beet varieties across different regions. The findings offer a theoretical basis for sugar beet breeding and could guide the rational design of experiments for testing new varieties of sugar beet.

Factor proportions in ensuring the economic resilience of the Egyptian sugar industry

The sugar industry plays an important role in ensuring the economic and food security of Egypt. However, when elaborating plans for its development, it is not taken into account that the decisions made may affect the factor proportions that link the resource potential and production capabilities of the system, and lead to a violation of resilience. As part of our study, we consider the issues of providing resilience to the sugar industry, which enables us to focus on its ability to ensure the continuity of reproduction processes on a constant or increasing scale in the face of changing environmental factors. This article aims at presenting a toolkit for measuring how a change in factorial proportions in the sugar industry will affect the level of its economic resilience. The study proposes the use of a parametric relative break-even model to calculate break-even production conditions. In this paper, we considered factorial proportions between the three main parameters (price, cost, sales volume) that determine the relative break-even of production. We identified factors, which carry both risks and opportunities for the Resilience of the Egyptian sugar industry: changing world demand for sugar; world sugar prices adjustments; etc. The results show that the put-forward model enables to anticipate the after-effect of managerial decisions at the stage of elaborating plans for the development of the sugar producing industry in terms of their impact on resilience in altering market conjuncture.

Перспективы развития экспорта сахара и сахарной продукции

Abstract. The purpose is to study the current state and features of the development of the world sugar market, develop proposals for supporting exports in the commodity group “Sugar and sugar confectionery” at the regional level in the new conditions of foreign economic activity. Methods. In the course of the study, statistical, analytical, graphical methods, Porter's 5 competitive forces analysis method, as well as regression analysis and expert survey methods were used. Results. This study clarifies the parameters of the global market for sugar products; the competitive positions of Russia in the studied market were analyzed taking into account the situation in 2022, the rating of regions in the export of sugar products was considered, in particular, the state of exports in the Stavropol Territory was studied. Based on the theory of M. Porter, strategies for entering foreign markets in the context of the Sugar and Sugar Confectionery segments were determined and measures for their implementation were proposed. A forecast was developed for further development in certain segments of foreign trade in sugar products in the world, in Russia and the Stavropol Territory, scenarios for the development of exports of sugar products in the Stavropol Territory were substantiated. The novelty of the results lies in clarifying the positions and prospects of Russian exports in the new conditions, taking into account the generalization of the opinions of experts at the regional and federal levels; substantiating of directions for choosing a competitive strategy for Russia when selling goods in the context of two segments (“Sugar” and “Confectionery from sugar”) on the world market; substantiation of the forecast values of exports of sugar and sugar confectionery in the world, Russia and the Stavropol Territory until 2025 using trend analysis; development of development scenarios as part of a strategy to increase the export of sugar and sugar confectionery in the Stavropol Territory.

Finding the sweet spot in Industry 4.0 transformation: an exploration of the drivers, challenges and readiness of the Thai sugar industry

PurposeIndustry 4.0 is recognised as a competitive strategy that helps implementers optimise their value chain. However, its adoption poses several challenges. This study investigates and ranks the drivers and barriers to implementing Industry 4.0 in the Thai sugar industry, the world's second-largest sugar exporter. It also evaluates the industry's readiness for Industry 4.0.Design/methodology/approachThe drivers and impediments were identified based on a systematic literature review (SLR) and further investigated using a questionnaire, expert interviews, Pearson's correlation and nonparametric statistical analyses. The IMPULS model was used to assess the industry's readiness.FindingsMost companies expect to minimise costs, develop employees and improve various elements of operational performance and data tracking capability. Thai sugar producers are still at a low readiness level to deploy Industry 4.0. High investment is the major challenge. Small businesses struggle to hire competent employees, collaborate with a highly credible technology provider and adapt to new solutions.Practical implicationsThe findings can serve as a benchmark or guide for sugar manufacturers and companies in other sectors, where Industry 4.0 technologies are not yet widely utilised, to overcome existing roadblocks and make strategic decisions. They can also assist governments in developing policies that foster digital transformation and increase national competitiveness.Originality/valueThere is a scarcity of research on Industry 4.0 execution in the sugar industry. This study addresses this gap by investigating the reasons for the hesitancy of sugar producers to pursue Industry 4.0 and proposing solutions.

Salt and drought stress-mitigating approaches in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) to improve its performance and yield.

Although sugar beet is a salt- and drought-tolerant crop, high salinity, and water deprivation significantly reduce its yield and growth. Several reports have demonstrated stress tolerance enhancement through stress-mitigating strategies including the exogenous application of osmolytes or metabolites, nanoparticles, seed treatments, breeding salt/drought-tolerant varieties. These approaches would assist in achieving sustainable yields despite global climatic changes. Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is an economically vital crop for ~ 30% of world sugar production. They also provide essential raw materials for bioethanol, animal fodder, pulp, pectin, and functional food-related industries. Due to fewer irrigation water requirements and shorter regeneration time than sugarcane, beet cultivation is spreading to subtropical climates from temperate climates. However, beet varieties from different geographical locations display different stress tolerance levels. Although sugar beet can endure moderate exposure to various abiotic stresses, including high salinity and drought, prolonged exposure to salt and drought stress causes a significant decrease in crop yield and production. Hence, plant biologists and agronomists have devised several strategies to mitigate the stress-induced damage to sugar beet cultivation. Recently, several studies substantiated that the exogenous application of osmolytes or metabolite substances can help plants overcome injuries induced by salt or drought stress. Furthermore, these compounds likely elicit different physio-biochemical impacts, including improving nutrient/ionic homeostasis, photosynthetic efficiency, strengthening defense response, and water status improvement under various abiotic stress conditions. In the current review, we compiled different stress-mitigating agricultural strategies, prospects, and future experiments that can secure sustainable yields for sugar beets despite high saline or drought conditions.

The emergence of Brazil as a major world sugar and ethanol producer

ABSTRACT The production and export of sugar defined the colonial history of Brazil. It was here that the first modern slave based plantation system was created in America. Up through the end of the 17th century it was the dominant Atlantic producer of sugar. Although production continued to grow it was replaced in world markets in the 18th century by West Indian growers and was late to modernize in the 19th and early 20th century. Yet today it is once again the world's dominant producer of sugar and the second largest producer of ethanol. How and why these changes occurred is the theme of this essay in which we explore the rise of the modern sugar and ethanol industries in Brazil.

How does the financial performance of sugar-using firms compare to other agribusinesses? An accounting and economic profit rates analysis

PurposeThe United States (US) sugar program protects domestic sugar farmers from unrestricted imports of heavily-subsidized global sugar. Sugar-using firms (SUFs) criticize that program for causing US sugar prices to be higher than world sugar prices. This study examines the financial performance of publicly traded SUFs to determine if they are performing at an economic disadvantage in terms of accounting profitability, risk and economic profitability compared to other industries.Design/methodology/approachFirm-level financial accounting and market data from 2010 to 2019 were utilized to construct financial metrics for publicly traded SUFs, agribusinesses and general US firms. These financial metrics were analyzed to determine how SUFs compare to their agribusiness peer group and general US companies. The comprehensive financial analysis in this study covers: (1) accounting profit rates, (2) drivers of profitability, (3) economic profit rates, (4) trend analysis and (5) peer comparisons. Quantile regression analysis and Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney statistics are employed for statistical comparisons.FindingsRegarding various profitability and risk measures, SUFs outperform their agribusiness peers and the general benchmark of all US firms in terms of accounting profit rates, risk levels and economic profit rates. Furthermore, compared to other US industries using the 17 French and Fama classifications, SUFs have the highest return on investment and economic profit rate―measured by the Economic Value Added® margin―and the second-lowest opportunity cost of capital, measured by the weighted average cost of capital.Originality/valueThis study finds nothing to suggest that the US sugar program hinders the financial success of SUFs, contrary to recent claims by sugar-using firms. Notably in this analysis is the evaluation of economic profit rates and a series of robustness techniques.

Evaluation of global gridded crop models in simulating sugarcane yield in China

Sugarcane provides around 80% of the world's sugar production and is also one of the most efficient bioenergy crops. China is the third largest sugarcane-producing country in the world, and skillful simulation of the sugarcane yield in China is thus vital for global production and the trade of sugar and ethanol. Global Gridded Crop Models (GGCMs) are commonly used to predict global and regional crop yield as well as to assess the impacts of climate, environment, and agronomic management changes and feedbacks of crop growth. So far, two GGCMs (CLM5-crop and LPJmL) have been able to model sugarcane, but their performance in China remains unknown. In this study, the authors comprehensively evaluated the sugarcane yield simulations of these two models for the period 1980–2009 using the crop yield statistics collected from the National Bureau of Statistics of China. Results showed that these two models substantially underestimate the multi-year average sugarcane yield, with simulated yields less than one quarter of observations. In addition, CLM5-crop successfully simulates the spatial pattern, while LPJmL does not. In terms of temporal variability, the two models can reproduce the significant upward trend for the national average and in most provinces, but underestimate the magnitude. They also fail to simulate the pattern of interannual variability. The two models underestimate the sugarcane yield partly because they incorrectly set the sugarcane yield coming from the grain as other grain crops, which is inconsistent with the fact that the stem is harvested.摘要中国是全球第三大甘蔗生产国, 中国甘蔗产量模拟可服务于全球食糖和乙醇的生产和贸易. 全球格点作物模式CLM5-crop和LPJmL已实现对甘蔗的模拟, 但它们在中国的模拟能力未知. 本文评估结果表明: 两个模式均严重低估了甘蔗产量, 模拟均不足观测的1/4. CLM5-crop能有技巧地模拟产量的空间分布特征, 而LPJmL不能. 两个模式均不能合理模拟产量的年际变化, 且低估了产量的上升趋势. 模式低估甘蔗产量的部分原因是模式假设收割的是甘蔗的穗而非茎.

Comparison of crown and root inoculation method for evaluating the reaction of sugar beet cultivars to Rhizoctonia solani AG 2-2 IIIB

Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is the second major economically important sugar-yielding crops in the world and the US ranked third in world sugar beet production. Sugar beet crown rot and root rot are caused by Rhizoctonia solani (Khün) is a serious threat for sugar beet production and processing. Prior to the adoption of Roundup Ready® sugar beet (RRSB) cultivars, crown rot was a serious problem caused by mechanical tillage operations required for weed control. Following the introduction and large-scale cultivation of RRSB, however, crown rot was reduced but root rot became severe. This necessitated reassessment of screening methods for development of Rhizoctonia resistant cultivars. In this study we evaluated two inoculation methods, viz. crown inoculation and root inoculation methods for development of Rhizoctonia root rot and assessed their efficacy to differentiate the reaction of sugar beet cultivars. The results of this study demonstrated that the root inoculation method is optimal for consistent disease rating of the germplasms in the greenhouse. It was concluded that use of root inoculation method is convenient and accurate for screening of RRSB cultivars in a resistance breeding program.

Sugar industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan: current state and modernization reserves

The goal is to investigate the state and problems in the sugar industry in Kazakhstan. Methods – analysis of industry information from publicly available open sources, scientific literature, official materials of territorial administration, the Bureau of National Statistics of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan, industry experts and business entities. Results – the baseline is a conceptual model of a closed project for the northern and/or eastern regions of the country, which are characterized by significant acreage, cold autumn and winter periods, which contribute to a longer storage of sugar beets (with proper stacking of piles using forced ventilation systems). The necessity of a cluster approach to ensure sustainable d evelopment of sugar industry in the formation of a financial model is justified. Conclusions – the article presents material on world sugar production in 2019/2020, an overview of sugar product sub-complex in the republic, main beet-growing zones and their climatic conditions. Considering the problems of ensuring food security in Kazakhstan, it is noted that sugar market in Kazakhstan does not provide the industry and the population of the country with the necessary volumes. The proposed concept of the project for the northern and northeastern regions is visualized in the form of a block diagram. The authors note that there is experience in growing this crop in the North Kazakhstan and Pavlodar regions with more severe climatic conditions, in comparison with usual southern regions (Almaty and Zhambyl regions), which cannot be an obstacle to obtai ning products following the example of the Canadian company LanticRogers (Taber, Canada, Alberta).

Liberalising the EU sugar market: what are the effects on third countries?*

This paper examines the consequences of a liberalisation of the EU sugar policy on Australia and other third countries. Four scenarios are simulated showing the trade and production effects of a gradual phasing‐out of EU domestic support measures and EU import tariffs using two partial equilibrium models linked to each other. Compared with previous work, tariff rate quotas are represented in great detail, going beyond the classical single‐origin, single‐destination approach. Furthermore, supply functions of EU sugar processors are calibrated based on empirical data on production costs to overcome the problem of non‐observed production costs due to the existence quota rents. Results suggest that, in particular, sugar production in Balkan countries is adversely affected by a liberalisation of the EU sugar regime. Moreover, the simulation shows that preferential LDC‐ACP exporters, among them Fiji and Papua New Guinea, are displaced from the EU market leading to a decline in production. An elimination of EU import tariffs benefits in particular the Ukraine and the world's largest sugar producers, such as Australia, all with currently only limited preferential market access to the EU. During periods of low global sugar prices, these countries even increase sugar production, if the EU sugar market is completely liberalised.

Research and Development Prospects for Sugarcane Industry in Vietnam.

Sugarcane is one of the most important industrial crops in Vietnam and covers a total of 127,000 hectares of plantation area. In the season 2020–2021, Vietnam has produced 0.763 million tons of sugar (accounting for 0.34% total world sugar production). A current sugarcane production of 7.498 million tons is being used mainly for sugar production for direct consumption, ethanol production, bio-electricity and fertilization. To ensure crop sustainability, various policies and plans have been implemented. Crop breeding and zoning improvement programme significantly influence sugarcane production and sugar yield. Over 25 years since the programme “one million ton of sugar” was promoted, Vietnam currently possesses 25 sugar mills with a total capacity of 110,000 tons of sugarcane per day. Major problems of sugarcane industry as well as research and development have been discussed in this review. Recent research and development work focused on the added values of co-products to ensure sustainability of the sugarcane industry. Molasses will be used for ethanol production, and bagasse is used as the biomass for the alternative energy. Sugarcane and sugar would be the main feedstocks for those bio-economy growths in Vietnam. To keep the sustainable development of the sugar industry, and to meet the demand of the food and non-food requirements, it is necessary to upgrade the sugar value chain through the adoption and the development of co-products of the sugar industry.

Promote sugar beet cultivation in saline soil by applying humic substances in-soil and mineral nitrogen fertilization

Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.), accounting for 30 percent of the total world sugar production, maybe affected by soil fertility and nutrition supply in terms of both its yield and quality. Humic substances have a direct and indirect effect on plants, is it possible to raise this effect by integrate it with mineral nitrogen fertilization in saline soils? Two field experiments were conducted during two seasons. The treatments in split-plot design included without humic substances, soil-addition of humic acid and soil-addition of fulvic acid as main plots and 71, 142 and 213 kg N ha−1 as subplots. Soil-additions of humic substances increased root length, top and root content of α-N and K, the concentration of sucrose, sugar loss and sugar recovery and yield of sucrose, sugar loss and sugar recovery but reduced root content of Na and sugar quality index percentage. Increasing nitrogen fertilization level from 71 to 213 kg N ha−1 significantly increased all traits, except sucrose, sugar recovery and sugar quality index percentage. The highest root yield values were with soil-addition of humic acid with 213 kg N ha−1. On the other hand, the soil-addition of humic acid and fulvic acid with 213 kg N ha−1 increased the recoverable sugar yield of sugar beet by 16.1 and 15.2%, respectively. Therefore, it is preferable to use soil-addition of humic acid at 30 kg ha−1 with 213 kg N ha−1 to obtain the highest yield from the root yield and the extracted sugar yield, especially in saline soils.

Development of linear low‐density polyethylene nanocomposite films for storage of sugarcane juice

AbstractSugarcane juice is a cheap and popular product in the beverage industry, with colors varying from light gray to dark green containing abundant amounts of polyphenolic compounds, ascorbic acid, minerals, and pigments. With ample sucrose content, sugarcane juice has evolved as the primary raw material for manufacturing 70% of the world's sugar content. Despite having high nutritional value, the shelf life of juice is a severe concern owing to the onset of microbial activities, which speeds up the fermentation process immediately after the extraction, which calls for appropriate packaging for delaying the qualitative degradation. For this purpose, the physicochemical properties, microbial stability, and color properties of “Mandya” variety sugarcane juice was ascertained upon storage in developed nanocomposite films made of linear low‐density polyethylene (LLDPE) by varying the levels of compatibilizer, nanoclay, and thickness. Upon evaluating the results, it was observed that the critical physicochemical attributes, namely, total soluble solids (TSS), pH, total sugars, and overall acceptability, were found to decrease with an increase in the level of nanoclay and compatibilizer and decrease in film thickness. Zero plate counts were observed till day 15 of storage, and a gradual increase was noticed in the further days. Correspondingly, an increase in the overall color difference with the progression of storage also occurred. It was concluded from the analysis that film of 100 μm thickness prepared from a combination of 93% LLDPE, 5% compatibilizer, and 2% nanoclay gave superior shelf life, minimum change in quality parameters, and least microbial population in sugarcane juice.Practical ApplicationFruit juice industries are interested in using packaging films with high tensile strength and low permeability instead of expensive glass bottles. Nanocomposite technology could be an effective tool for developing high‐barrier packaging material. LLDPE has many applications for developing both rigid form and flexible films. Most research studies on sugarcane juice preservation are confined to bottling, and there is a scarcity of information on the storage of sugarcane juice in pouches. In this context, the goal of the present study is to develop a cost‐effective packaging technology for the storage of sugarcane juice.