Residue effect of water holding agents on sugarcane

【Objective】The present experiment was conducted to study the residue effects of different types of water holding agents on two consecutive ratoon crops of sugarcane. 【Method】Three treatments were applied at the time of sugarcane planting as follows: colloidal water holding agent,powdered water holding agent and control (no water holding agent).No additional water holding agents was applied to ratoon cane of the treatments. Growth parameters including germination ,tillering and plant height of ratoon cane were investigated , and the yield per plot was recorded. 【Result】Applying water holding agents increased the yields of two consecutive ratoon crops of sugarcane. Compared with control , the yields of treatment colloidal and powdered water holding agent increased by 6.94 and 7.98% in the first ratoon crop, respectively,and increased by 3.20 and 3.96% in the second ratoon crop , respectively. 【Conclusion 】Two types of water holdingagents applied in plant cane crop improved yield of ratoon cane, but the longer they retained in soil, the less effective they were.