PROPAGAÇÃO DE CANA-DE-AÇUCAR: MÉTODOS E PERSPECTIVAS

Abstract

The cultivation of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) presents numbers considered impactful within the Brazilian agricultural scenario, occupying the position of one of the main crops produced in the national territory. Therefore, this study aimed to build a literature review to report the concept, benefits and diffusion of the technique of propagation via synthetic seeds in sugarcane, considering the history and perspectives. For the professional in agronomy and the grower to evaluate which propagation option is the most practical and profitable, both need to have knowledge about the various options of planting and cultivation, so it is interesting in the professional and academic points of view. The propagation of sugarcane is done vegetatively since the consolidation of the culture in the national territory, and the production of explants and planting are very laborious processes. Synthetic seeds emerge as an alternative that makes it possible to obtain more expressive results in the field, generating seedlings of excellent phytosanitary quality, greater uniformity, reduction of failures in the sugarcane field, and the proposal to facilitate the planting operation. It is well known that the sugar-energy sector, like the others, aspires to increase productivity at lower costs, implementing innovations such as the propagation approach under study. However, there are still bottlenecks and aspects to be solved in order to obtain this synthetic seed, mainly in the establishment of protocols and production techniques. Even with the efforts of great institutions such as Syngenta and the CTC, it has not yet been launched as a de facto technology in the market. We conclude that there are good perspectives for the production of synthetic sugarcane seeds, showing that it is a promising technology; however, much remains to be done in the area of research for the consolidation of the technology.