Effects of Seaweed Extracts on Promoting Growth and Improving Stress Resistance in Sugarcane

A field investigation was executed in sugarcane producing area of Zhanjiang,Guangdong Province with Yt03-373 as the test variety to understand the possible impacts of seaweed extracts on phenology，yield and quality attributes of sugarcane.Foliar application of seaweed extracts were carried out on sugarcane at seedling and tillering stages. Agronomic traits, yield, sugar content, leaf drought resistance and pest resistance of sugarcane were analyzed for optimization of application time at proper phenological stages . The results that compared to the control, the application of seaweed extracts at different stages of sugarcane enhanced production of sugarcane with increase rate of 10.83%-12.87%, and improved theoretical sugar yield of sugarcane up to 1.9 t/ha while enhancing water retention capacity and water content of sugarcane leaves that consequently led to wilting risk reduction by escaping drought and improved resilience to grought impact on sugarcane. Seaweed extracts also performed excellent in pest management of sugarcane wad observed to be 15.09% compared to control,while the net income was improved by up to 32.64% in the seaweed extracts application treatment. Foliar application of seaweed extracts not only enhanced growth, cold resistance, pest resistance, output value but also inproved economic returns, giving a positive affirmation for the recommendation of seaweed extract application.