The Role of Nitrogen Fertilizers in Sugarcane Root Biomass under Field Conditions

The Role of Nitrogen Fertilizers in Sugarcane Root Biomass under Field Conditions () 1. IntroductionSugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is an important crop for bioenergy production in order to reduce green house gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption [1] . Brazil is the world leader in sugarcane production, with a cultivated area of 9.7 million hectares of the total 26 million hectares cultivated worldwide [2] .Sugarcane productivity may be influenced by root system properties because of their effects on the supply of belowground resources, gas exchange and assimilation and also the carbon economy of the plant and partitioning of assimilate to yield components [3] . Many aspects of sugarcane physiology are still poorly understood, including the root-shoot relationships that ultimately affect yield. Studies on sugarcane roots lag well behind those on other crops, in part to the large plant stature and long crop cycle [4] . Very little is currently known about the root architecture of this cr...