Continuous and Impact Cutting in Mechanized Sugarcane Harvest: Quality, Losses and Impurities
João Vitor Paulo Testa,
Murilo Battistuzzi Martins,
Aldir Carpes Marques Filho,
Kléber Pereira Lanças,
Renato Lustosa Sobrinho,
Taciane Finatto,
Mohammad K. Okla,
Hamada AbdElgawad
Affiliations
João Vitor Paulo Testa
Rural Engineering and Agricultural Mechanization Department, College of Agricultural Sciences, São Paulo State University—UNESP, Av. Universitária, 3780, Botucatu 18610-034, SP, Brazil
Murilo Battistuzzi Martins
Cassilândia University Unit, Agronomy Department, Mato Grosso do Sul State University—UEMS, 306 Road, Km 6, Cassilândia 79540-000, MS, Brazil
Aldir Carpes Marques Filho
Agricultural Engineering Department, Federal University of Lavras, Lavras 37200-000, MG, Brazil
Kléber Pereira Lanças
Rural Engineering and Agricultural Mechanization Department, College of Agricultural Sciences, São Paulo State University—UNESP, Av. Universitária, 3780, Botucatu 18610-034, SP, Brazil
Renato Lustosa Sobrinho
Department of Agronomy, Federal University of Technology—Paraná (UTFPR), Pato Branco 85503-390, PR, Brazil
Taciane Finatto
Department of Agronomy, Federal University of Technology—Paraná (UTFPR), Pato Branco 85503-390, PR, Brazil
Mohammad K. Okla
Botany and Microbiology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Hamada AbdElgawad
Integrated Molecular Plant Physiology Research, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
Sugarcane harvesting requires improvements, particularly in cutting tools. Continuous cutting saws have been introduced as a solution to this issue. This study evaluates the performance of two basal sugarcane cutting systems in different fields: a traditional impact cut system (ICS) with knives and a continuous cut system (CCS) with saw blades. Tests were conducted during two crop cycles in three areas, using a 3 × 2 factorial design with two cutting devices and four replications per treatment. Cut quality indices and ratoon damage were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Raw material losses were subjected to the Shapiro–Wilk normality test, ANOVA, and Tukey’s test at 5% probability. Significant differences in cutting quality were found across different areas. The total crop productivity influenced sugarcane cut quality, with the CCS showing (0.8 Mg ha−1) visible losses in higher productivity areas, which is a 74% increase compared to the ICS. In lower productivity areas, the CCS demonstrated better loss performance (0.8 Mg ha−1). Additionally, the stumps damage rate for the CCS was lower than that for the ICS (0.15 and 0.28, respectively), indicating that saws can preserve cane fields and enhance longevity.
