Supplementary Material: About Sugarcane

Supplementary Material: About Sugarcane

Sugarcane is not only fast-growing and rewarding to observe, but also has a pleasant taste, making it suitable for food education lessons, as students can bite it or make sugar to taste. Additionally, sugarcane is hardy and requires little care. It needs minimal fertilizer and is rarely affected by disease. However, because it is a tropical plant, there was a possibility it might not grow well in Ibaraki Prefecture. For this reason, the shoots were started in a greenhouse in early March and transplanted outdoors in May. For this lesson, four different varieties were prepared for the four classes. Students conducted a comparative experiment to observe differences in growth, sugar content, and the taste of sugar.

Cultivation Schedule

About Cultivation

• Cultivation Location
  Primarily grown outdoors (plants in pots do not grow very large)
  Can be grown in almost any soil, but well-drained, sunny soil rich in organic matter is most suitable.
• Cultivation Area
  When fully grown, sugarcane reaches 2 to 3 meters in height, leaves about 1.5 meters long, and roots with a radius of approximately 1.5 to 2 meters. Plant spacing should be about 60 cm.
• Optimal Temperature for Cultivation
  Above 12°C
• Management During Cultivation
  Sugarcane can be affected by pests such as the corn borer (a type of moth), but if detected early, they can be removed by hand, so the need for pesticides is low. The main maintenance task is weeding.

Number of Stalks Obtained from a Single Sugarcane Seedling

At least three sugarcane stalks can be harvested from a single seedling.

Sugar Content of Each Variety

The following four varieties were tested, and all showed quite high sugar content by November. In particular, F8 is an early-maturing variety, exceeding 15° Brix by the end of October, while NiH25 exceeded 16° Brix in November. On November 19, sugar was made from the sugarcane, and all varieties produced sugar with a good taste.

Results of Sugar Content Measurements for Each Variety

Production cooperation: Hiromi Kobayashi
 Sugarcane Seedlings and Information Provided by: Center for Seeds and Seedlings, Okinawa Station