Effect of Harvesting Ages on Yield and Yield Components of Sugar Cane Varieties Cultivated at Finchaa Sugar Factory, Oromia, Ethiopia

This study was initiated with the objective of determining the effect of different harvesting ages (12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 months) on yield and yield components of selected the two sugar cane varieties (B52/298 and NCo 334) grown in Finchaa sugar factory, Oromia, Ethiopia. A field experiment was conducted at Finchaa sugarcane plantation using a randomized complete block design of a factorial arrangement of 2x5 with three replications. The data were performed using SAS version 9.3, and a significant difference was considered at p <= 0.05. The results showed that B52/298 variety had a higher estimated recoverable sucrose than NCo 334 variety. The results also indicated that as harvesting ages increase yield, yield components of sugar cane quality are increased. The maximum sugar yield of 1.89-ton ha-1 month-1 was obtained at the harvesting age of 15 months. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) between harvesting age and sugarcane varieties on cane yield, sugar yield, brix percent juice, pol percent, and recoverable sugar. Generally, the findings imply that as harvesting ages in month increase, brix percent juice, estimated recoverable sucrose, and sucrose percentage in both varieties were simultaneously increased. The findings suggested that B52/298 sugar cane variety with harvesting age between 14 and 16 is highly recommended to obtain optimum sugar cane yield and yield components at the tropical areas of Finchaa sugar factory.