| ABSTRACT The need to irrigate sugarcane in the Brazilian Savanna is due to the lack of rain from April to September. For efficient sugar accumulation, the crop needs water stress or heat stress at the maturation stage. However, when the water deficit is intense at this stage, it occurs the reduction in crop production. The objective of this study was: (i) to assess the quality of the raw material of sugarcane in different drying-off seasons before harvest; (ii) to evaluate the influence of heat stress on the culture. The experiment was conducted in Santo Antônio de Goiás (GO), Brazil, in Oxisol, with CTC4 variety in cane-plant cycle. A randomized block design in a split-plot array in time was used. The treatments of the plots were five drying-off times... |
