Inputs and application for sugarcane
Case 1 A live fungus against spittlebug - 1
Pick the plot first Open a new chat and tap Plots (All) under the question box. Choose the plot you want advice for. ORTH then works from that plot’s crop, variety, soil and documents, and from the farm weather. For sugarcane Pick one plot of one variety and one cut. We picked Talhão 1: RB867515 on 12.64 ha of clay soil near Sertãozinho, planted in March 2023 as 18-month cane and harvested for the third time on 18 August 2026, green, with the straw left on the field. Every number below is for that plot. - 2
Work out the product per tank We gave ORTH a Metarhizium anisopliae product registered for sugarcane, with 2 kg/ha on the label, sprayed at 200 L/ha from a 2,000 L tank. A full tank covers 10 ha and takes 20 kg. The plot needs 25.28 kg in 2,528 L, so the second load is 5.28 kg made up to 528 L for the last 2.64 ha. Putting the 5.28 kg into a full second tank and spraying on at 200 L/ha would give less than 2 kg/ha. - 3
Keep the fungus alive in the store and the tank Keep the product sealed, dry and in the shade at the temperature on the label, and never leave bags in the cab or in the sun next to the sprayer. Store it away from fungicides, disinfectants, food and feed, and check the expiry date. Start with a well-cleaned sprayer, because fungicide, copper or bleach residues kill the spores. Calibrate with clean water first, half-fill the tank, make a slurry of the powder with a little water in a separate container and add it slowly with gentle agitation, without raising dust, then top up to the final volume. Mix only what you can spray straight away, never overnight. Do not add fungicides, copper, disinfectants or other pesticides unless the maker confirms the fungus survives them: a jar test shows the mix looks fine, without showing that the spores are still alive. - 4
Aim at the stool base, in the cool of the day Aim the spray at the stool base, the surface roots and the moist zone under the straw, with low-drift nozzles giving medium to coarse droplets at the lowest pressure that keeps an even pattern. Spray when the straw and soil are moist but not flooded and the clay carries the tractor, in the late afternoon, evening or early morning. Avoid strong sun, wind, runoff and rain within the rainfast period on the label. ORTH said the next days are not a good window: 81% chance of rain and gusts up to 41 km/h on 5 November, then a storm alert on 6 November. Afterwards, count live nymphs at the same points. Confirm the product, dose, rainfast period and re-entry interval in MAPA AGROFIT and on the label, and wear the PPE it lists, especially when you handle the powder. Case 2 A ripener by drone before harvest - 5
Work out the flights The mill suggested a chemical ripener about 45 days before the August 2027 harvest, by drone at 20 L/ha with a 40 L tank. The plot takes 252.8 L of mix. Each full load covers 2 ha, so there are 7 flights: 6 full loads of 40 L for 12 ha and a last load of 12.8 L for 0.64 ha, 32% of the tank. Make up each load to these volumes with the product already in. Battery limits or a pump reserve can mean more flights. ORTH left the product amount open until the label rate is confirmed: per full load it is the rate per hectare times 2, and in the last load the rate times 0.64. - 6
Date it by sector Counting back 45 days gives 17 June 2027 for a harvest on 1 August, 1 July for 15 August and 17 July for 31 August. ORTH caught that the calendar puts the first maturity sampling on 20 June, three days after the earliest application date. So sample earlier in sectors you plan to cut in early August. If you harvest the plot in stages, apply the ripener to each sector according to its confirmed cutting date. It also said not to take the mill’s 45 days as the legal interval: the label sets it. - 7
Check the label and the field first The label has to confirm registration for sugarcane as a ripener, drone application, the dose, whether 20 L/ha is allowed, the interval to harvest, droplet size, swath, buffers and weather limits, adjuvants, PPE, re-entry, limits for the next ratoon, seed cane or replanting, and packaging disposal. Follow the Brazilian rules for drone application and its operators. In the field, confirm maturity with the mill’s Brix and Pol by sector, fix a mill slot for each treated sector, and hold off if the cane is very stressed, waterlogged, lodged or diseased. Put houses, roads, water, sensitive crops and power lines in the flight plan as exclusions, calibrate the drone with clean water, and record the product, lot, dose, hectares, flight logs and weather. Send ORTH the trade name, registration number or a photo of the label to get the product per load.
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