South African Sugar Cane
Reaping the benefits of near
infrared spectroscopy in the
South African sugar industry
Jan Meyer (SA Sugar Association Experiment Station, Mt Edgecombe,4300 South Africa)
Sugar industries world-wide are
showing increasing interest in the
potential applications of near infrared
(NIR) analysis as both a research and
management tool in the fields of soil fer-
tility, cane nutrition, cane quality testing
and in screening for resistance to cer-
tain pests and diseases.1 Soil scientists
at the Sugar Experiment Station at
Mount Edgecombe in KwaZulu Natal,
South Africa, have pioneered the use of
NIR to improve the nitrogen use effi-
ciency of sugarcane, by matching the
crops N requirement to NIR derived soil
N mineralising potential classes and the
N status of the plant. The introduction of
NIR has resulted in considerable sav-
ings in fertiliser use as well as reducing
the risk of environmental pollution. In
this article we visit the sugar industry’s
NIR facility to gain a glimpse of some of
the NIR applications that have been
researched over the past 15 years.
Nitrogen, the key
to crop yield and
quality
Traditionally, the South African sugar
industry has placed great reliance on
the value of soil and leaf analysis in
diagnosing and correcting nutrient defi-
ciencies to ensure that fertilisers are
used effectively. The determination of
the N requirement of sugarcane is one
of the more important activities under-
taken by the Fertilizer Advisory Service
(FAS) laboratory at the Sugar
Experiment Station. Of the 16 elements
considered to be essential for sugar-
cane, N has the greatest effect on cane
growth and juice quality. The impor-
tance of N to the economy of sugarcane
may be judged from the fact that over
30000 tons of N, valued at $25 million,
are used in the South African sugar
industry each year.
Traditional methods of N analysis
used in formulating N recommendations
are not only time consuming but also
very labour intensive.
NIR news Vol. 8 No. 1 (1997)
Break through with NIR
diagnosis
In 1983 a much improved system of
leaf N analysis was introduced2 when a
Technicon 300 (now Bran + Luebbe) fil-
ter instrument was successively cali-
brated and validated for N in the range
from 0.80 to 3.0%. Further improve-
ments in the reliability of the N determi-
nation were made with a scanning
instrument (NIRSystems Inc., Silver
Spring, MD, USA). Using PLS maths
the R values obtained for the calibration
and validation phases were 0.990 and
0.976, respectively, with associated
SEC and SEP values of 0.07 and 0.11.
The NIR method was also shown to be
about ten times faster than the steam
distillation Kjeldahl procedure for N.
Typically a batch of 75 leaf samples
could be analysed by a single operator
in about 90 minutes. NIR also resulted
in a labour saving of at least eight man
hours per 200 samples.
Fertility trend analysis
Some of the more important applica-
tions of NIR in leaf analysis concerns its
use in controlliing whole crop cycle rec-
ommendations and in nutrient survey
progarmmes. Since 1983 more than
65,000 leaf samples have been
analysed for N content by NIR. The
data set is regularly updated and used
to determine comparative changes in
nutrient availability in the sugar indus-
try.3 Regions that showed the greatest
increase in N deficient samples includ-
ed the Eastern Transvaal (from 1 to
28%) and North Coast (from 12 to 26%)
while the areas that showed the great-
est decline were Midlands South (from
26 to 8%) and South Coast (27 to 21%).
N use efficiency studies
NIR has also proved invaluable as a
rapid means of determining the efficacy
of timing, placement and the use of dif-
ferent carriers in various trials con-
cerned with improving the efficiency of
fertiliser N use in sugarcane.4 More
recently leaf NIR analyses have proved
useful in assessing the N requirement
of different cane varieties. For many
years fertiliser recommendations in the
South African Sugar Industry have been
based on the variety NCo:376. Third
leaf analyses covering many thousands
of samples from variety trials have
shown significant differences in the
composition of third leaf samples
between varieties.
Assessing soil nitrogen
mineralisation potential by
NIR
Following the successful application
of NIR to N analysis of cane leaf sam-
ples, attention was given in 1986 to
assessing the merits of NIR for soil test-
ing. Previous work based on field trials
and laboratory evidence had shown that
the N requirement of sugarcane could
be more reliably estimated from soil
properties such as N mineralisation
potential, texture, colour and organic
matter. For advisory purposes a system
was developed for categorising soils
into low, moderate, high and very high
mineralising categories.5
Although NIR for soils is not as accu-
rate as with leaf N, the investigations
have shown that various soil properties
could be satisfactorily estimated by NIR
and that the reliability decreased in the
order clay, organic matter, total nitrogen
and N mineralisation rating. Based on
the SEP values obtained for the various
constituents, the NIR technique was
considered to be reliable enough for rat-
ing soils into six textural classes from
sand to clay, five organic matter classes
(less than 1.0; 1 to 2; 2 to 3; 3 to 4 and
more than 4.0%) and four N mineralisa-
tion categories which correspond with
average N release rates of 40, 60, 80
and 100 kg ha–1, respectively.6
Sugar products
The direct analysis of constituents
such as pol and brix in sugarcane is
another important analytical service that
is rendered by a number of laboratories
in the sugar industry. The standard pro-
cedure based on filtration and clarifica-
tion of expressed cane juice is also
tedious and labour intensive. In 1987,
Page 3
South African Sugar Cane
an investigation was conducted to test
the suitability of NIR for rapidly estimat-
ing cane juice quality components.7
Regression analyses indicated that brix,
pol and sucrose values obtained were
closely correlated with those obtained
by the conventional methods of analysis
based on the refractometer, saccha-
rimeter and gas chromatography. Other
researchers have corroborated and
improved on these findings.8,9
More recently an intensive collabora-
tive investigation between the Sugar
Milling Research Institute (SMRI) and
the Sugar Experiment Station, was car-
ried out in which well over 500 shred-
ded cane samples were used to cali-
brate and validate a NIRS model 5000
spectrophotometer for pol, brix and
moisture readings.10 Predictions for pol,
brix and dry matter were very accept-
able with R values ranging from 0.85 to
0.93 and standard errors of perfor-
mance varying from 0.35 to 0.55%. It
was concluded from the findings that
the technique was reliable enough to
use for the rapid analysis of sugarcane
in plant breeding selection and agrono-
my variety trials. Brazil have recently
taken the lead in adopting NIR as an
official method of cane payment. In the
space of two years, 15 large sugar mills
have aquired 21 scanning instruments
to monitor the sucrose content for an
annual cane crop in excess of 60 mil-
lions. This is only the tip of the “applica-
tions iceberg” when one is informed that
there are no fewer than 300 medium to
large capacity mills and a further 200
smaller mills responsible for processing
in excess of 260 million tons cane
(equivalent to 25 million tons sugar per
annum).
Predicting host
plant resistance
to pest and
diseases
Apart from using NIR to screen clonal
material for quality components such as
brix, pol, fibre and dry matter in fibrated
cane8 there is the exciting prospect that
NIR may prove suitable for screening
breeding and wild germplasm for resis-
tance to pest and diseases. NIR was
recently evaluated for predicting flavi-
noid chacteristics associated with
Eldana saccharina resistance.11 This
stalk borer is endemic in the South
African sugar industry and causes tens
of millions of rand damage each year.
Multiple regression predictive models
based on NIR spectral data from 30
clones of known eldana resistance sug-
gested that stalk budscale and wax
Page 4 NIR news Vol. 8 No. 1 (1997)
components accounted for up to 55% of
the variation in resistance to eldana.
Work is currently in progress to validate
the NIR budscale and wax resistance
models that have been developed. It
has also been shown that leaf Si is a
useful indicator of the silicon status of
sugarcane.12 Although not yet proven it
is possible that silicon is an important
element that has been overlooked in
stalk borer resistance in sugarcane. In
Florida high silicon uptake in sugarcane
following treatment with a silicate slag
served as a deterrent to the stem borer
Diatraea saccharalis.13
Future
applications
Estimating photosynthetic
rates
The measurement of photosynthetic
rates in the field is time consuming,
weather dependent and requires con-
siderable skill. Photosynthesis mea-
surements were carried out on 70 leaf
samples from a variety observation trial
using a portable Irga meter. The sam-
ples were subsequently scanned by
NIR both in the fresh and dried state in
the 1100 to 2400 spectral region. Step-
wise regression analysis showed that
Irga photosynthesis and internal CO2
determined concentrations were highly
correlated with NIR absorption values
(R > 0.95). The wavelengths that were
selected for the calibration equation
(2139 nm, 2100 nm and 2190 nm)
were consistent with the third overtone
stretching vibrations of C=O, O–H and
C–H bonds associated with carbohy-
drates such as starch and reducing sug-
ars as well as second overtone N–H
bending modes found in proteins. All
these constituents are by-products of
photosynthesis.
Yield potential predictions
NIR has the potential of not only
detecting key constiuents such as
starch, sugar, cellulose, lignin, proteins,
water, amides but also certain con-
stituents linked with S, Mg, Ca and K.14
Foliar diagnosis relies on the principle
that if nutrient concentrations are below
the critical level or the nutrients are not
in balance then the crop’s yield potential
will not be achieved. A set of 400 top
visible dewlap leaf samples, collected
from 20 irrigated trials, showed that NIR
absorption spectra of four to five month
old leaf samples in the 1930–2330 nm
range were positively correlated with
cane yield (R = 0.87) and negatively
correlated with pol% values (R = 0.82)
at 12 months. NIR based research stud-
ies in Australia have also indicated that
the ratio of total N to non-structural car-
bohydrate in whole shoots of wheat
may be a key indicator of yield poten-
tial.16 It is possible that this ratio in irri-
gated young cane may also have a role
as a diagnostic indicator of crop poten-
tial.
Assessing disease resistance
The other area of interest in possible
new applications of NIR concerns its
potential in detecting resistance to dis-
eases such as mosaic and smut. With
mosaic there is a definite point of entry
of the virus in the leaf via an aphid vec-
tor. The results of a preliminary investi-
gation of leaf samples taken from a
propagation plot with 15 cane varieties
have shown that the standard ratings of
mosaic and smut were significantly cor-
related with spectral absorbance in the
NIR region.
Plant N pools
Quantifying the distribution of plant N
pools such as nitrate-N, amino-N, solu-
ble-protein (mainly Rubisco) and struc-
tural forms of protein in sugarcane is
another promising area of research.
Total N is often used as the indicator of
N suffiency but this includes stored N in
the form of Rubisco which is not very
mobile. It is possible that as in other
crops nitrate may be a more sensitive
indicator of N sufficiency rather than
total N. Proline is another amino acid
that could be a useful diagnostic indica-
tor in foliar diagnosis as it has been
shown that proline accumulation is
linked with moisture stress.15
Conclusions
With analytical applications as
diverse as soil, plant tissue, shredded
cane, fertilisers, organic manures to
mention a few, there is no other analyti-
cal technique that claim to be as versa-
tile and as fast as NIR. NIR presents
exciting challenges to a wide diversity of
agricultural scientists including soil and
crop scientists, plant breeders, entomol-
ogists, plant pathologists and biotech-
nologists. As NIR spectra have also
been used to determine canopy nitro-
gen and carbon in a number of forest
sites by remote sensing from NASA’s
Airborne Imaging Spectrophotometer
there is also the exciting prospect that
laboratory-based NIR calibrations may
one day become a necessity for inter-
preting remote spectral images. This in
turn could link up with GIS-based soil
fertility and plant nutrient status field
maps. NIR could eventually even play
an important role in the fast emerging-
ing field of “site specific” and “precision
farming” practices. The sky is the limit!

Twenty-five years of near infrared
technology—what were the milestones?
Phil Williams (Canadian Grain Commission, Winnipeg, Canada)
Our milestones are very modest, and
were really stepping stones, quite small
ones in a treacherous torrent of skepti-
cism, since we were pioneering, and
attempting to introduce totally new tech-
nology to a system which was regarded
as sacred, and where accuracy and reli-
ability in testing was absolutely impera-
tive.
In a couple of earlier articles in NIR
news I have talked about the first days.
The reasons why we first got involved
with near infrared (NIR) technology was
because of a need—the need to test
railway carloads of wheat for protein
content at the time of their arrival at
grain terminal elevators at Thunder
Bay, Ontario, and Vancouver, British
Columbia. It took (and still takes) only
about 6 minutes to unload a carload of
between 50 and 90 metric tonnes of
wheat into a terminal. But, to avoid pos-
sible overloading of the scales, the
wheat is weighed in two “drafts” of up to
50 tonnes. The total unload time is 6
minutes—so we only had little more
than 2 minutes in which the test had to
be completed and the result communi-
cated to the weighing floor of the termi-
nal, from where the wheat is directed to
a bin for storage, prior to shipping.
Our first excursion began on 3
February 1972. The first milestone hap-
continued from page 4
References
1. J.H. Meyer, S. Rutherford and K.J.
Schaffler, in Leaping Ahead in Near
Infrared Spectroscopy, Ed by G.D.
Batten, P.C. Flinn, L.A. Welsh and
A.B. Blakeney. Royal Australian
Chemical Institute, Melbourne, p.p.
204–207 (1995).
2. J.H. Meyer, Proceedings South
African Sugar Technologist
Association 67, 82–87 (1983).
3. J.H. Meyer, R.A. Wood and R.L.
Harding, Proceedings South
African Sugar Technologist
Association 63, 159–163 (1989).
4. J.H. Meyer and R.A. Wood,
Proceedings Australian Society
Sugarcane Technologists 16,
93–104 (1994).
NIR news Vol. 8 No. 1 (1997)
Canadian Milestones
pened during the first minute
or two. Our old boss at that
time was convinced that a
machine that cost THAT
much ($7,200.00 in those
days was a lot!) shouldn’t
need calibration!. When (the
late) Pete Boyko read the
first sample ever tested in
the “Real World” of grain-
testing, and obtained a result
of 14.2% protein for our ref-
erence check sample he was
convinced—the mean result
for “PC 62” our first ever pro-
tein check sample, had been
established at 14.23%
(13.5% moisture basis) after
hundreds of Kjeldahl tests
over a two-year period. Pete Figure 1. The Neotec model 1: the first Milestone
and I were not convinced, maker.
and our beliefs were vindicat-
ed when we switched the old
Neotec Model I to give us a
reading for moisture. That result was dition, questioned the accuracy of the
–18.4%! Kjeldahl results. He owes his life to the
The second milestone occurred the fact that there were no witnesses other
next day. Dave Selman from Neotec than myself—our boys were proud of
was visiting us to help us set up. We their unsurpassed accuracy!! I drank a
developed a calibration with 48 samples little sip of water, and suggested that we
of wheat and predicted 24—and re-cycled all of the samples during the
obtained a SEP of 0.54%. Dave, of night shift of the Kjeldahl lab, knowing
course, in true Instrument Company tra- what the results would be. Sure
5. J.H. Meyer, R.A. Wood and N.B. 11. R.S. Rutherford, J.H. Meyer, G.S.
Leibbrandt, Proceedings South Smith and J. van Staden,
African Sugar Technologist Proceedings South African Sugar
Association 60, 205–211 (1986). Technologist Association 67, 82–87
6. J.H. Meyer, South African J. Plant (1993).
Soil 6, 59–63 (1989). 12. Clements, Proceedings Internat-
7. J.H. Meyer and R.A. Wood, ional Society Sugar Cane
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203–207 (1988). Gascho, Soil and Crop Science
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LeBrocq and J.C. Skinner, 134–141 (1985).
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Sugarcane Technologists 11, 8–15 Ciavarella and V.B. Mc Grath, in
(1989). Leaping Ahead in Near Infrared
9. M.A. Clarke, L.A. Edye and W.S. Spectroscopy, Ed by G.D. Batten,
Patout, Proceedings International P.C. Flinn, L.A. Welsh and A.B.
Society Sugar Cane Technologists Blakeney. Royal Australian
22, in press (1995). Chemical Institute, Melbourne, p.p.
10. K.J. Scaffler and J.H. Meyer, 194–197 (1995).
Proceedings South African Sugar 15. R.S. Rutherford, Proceedings
Technologist Association 70, in South African Sugar Technologist
press (1996). Association 63, 136–141 (1989).
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