Our R & D Programme
Research Projects
Soils and plant nutrition
- Urea as a nitrogen source and gaseous losses of N from sugar cane fields
- Controlled release ferlilizers (CRF) to improve N use efficiency
- Studies on N dynamics and predicting N mineralization in soils
- Assessment of the N replacement concept in N nutrition of sugar cane
- Use of concentrated molasses stillage (CMS) enriched with N and P as a source of nutrients to sugar cane
- Influence of high rates of vinasse, coal ash and bagasse ash on soil properties and on sugar cane
- CaMgS and trace element status of sugar cane
- Green manuring as a source of N for sugar cane
- Use of legume breaks and development of an integrated cropping system for sugar cane in Mauritius
- Identification of methods for measuring biologically active pools of soil organic carbon
- Development of soil P tests to provide critical soil P levels for environmental risk assessment and agronomic sufficiency
- Establish criteria for assessment of fields vulnerability to erosion and surface runoff
- Disposal of bagasse, coal ash and vinasse in sugar cane soils
- Effects of leachates from applied ash and vinasse on groundwater quality
- Establishment of a Soil Information System
- Field layout extraction using SPOT panchromatic image and airphotos
- Rehabilitation of small planters cane lands
- Assessing impact of spatial field variability on sugar cane production and establishment of site specific management zones for managing spatial variability
- Assessing and mapping of land use
- Identification of constraints to productivity and formulation of corrective measures
- Biomass accumulation and partitioning into sucrose and fibre
- Hormonal control of sugar cane development
- Induction of flowering to enhance the breeding programme
- Optimal exploitation of varieties during the harvest season
- Natural and chemical ripening
- Use of plant growth regulators to boost productivity
- Climate and production
- Modeling of cane and sugar production
- Advancement of the start of the harvest season
- Irrigation Management Information System (IMIS)
- Deficit irrigation
- Factors affecting water use efficiency
- Use of non-conventional water resources
- Drip irrigation in dual row planting and in new cropping systems
- Soil physical properties
- Identification of best sequences of land preparation and mechanical elimination of cane stubbles
- Improving the cost-effectiveness of mechanical planting of sugar cane
- Effect of mechanized harvesting of sugar cane on soil and crop
- Cane haulage
- Elimination of constraints to mechanization in superhumid areas
- Advising medium- and small-planters on derocking, land planning and mechanization of cultural operations
- Evaluation of High Density Planting (HDP) techniques in Mauritius
- Alternate to ridge planting in superhumid areas
- Measurement of soil erosion and validation of RUSLE under local conditions
- Effect of cultural practices on ratooning and ratoon decline
- Effect of gappy stand on cane yield
- Farm planning and redesign of drains in the superhumid areas using DTM
- Evaluation of fire retardant in sugar cane
- Critical periods for weed competition in sugar cane
- Effect or partial weeding on weed seedbank
- Evaluation of the new herbicides (diclosulam, flufanacet, isoxaflutole, Krismat) in sugar cane
- Management and control of vine weeds
- Effect of new adjuvants on efficacy of herbicides
- Residual activity of herbicides in different soils of Mauritius
- Tolerance of newly released varieties to post-emergence herbicide treatments
- Evaluation of air-assisted spraying of herbicides in sugar cane
- Revision of Land Index Databases
- Land suitability for mechanized crop production
- Productivity improvement
- Mapping of areas according to targeted cane production
- Precision agriculture
- Spatial variability assessment from satellite imageries and digital infrared photography
- Calibration and validation of CANEGRO crop model for local varieties
- Evaluation of CANEGRO for study of climatic change
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Propagation of sugar cane, potato and other crops by tissue culture techniques
- Genetic engineering of sugar cane for herbicide and drought tolerance using the Biolistic system
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Development of molecular diagnostic tools for sugar cane and potato diseases
- Identification of molecular markers associated with resistance to yellow spot disease in sugar cane
- Elimination of Sugarcane yellow leaf virus and sugarcane yellow phytoplasmas in imported germplasm and local varieties using tissue culture techniques
- Molecular characterization of sugarcane yellow phytoplasmas and transmission studies
- Use of microsatellite markers for fingerprinting and genetic diversity studies of sugar cane varieties
- Identification of molecular markers linked to earliness of ripening and high sucrose content
- Development of a multiplex-PCR test for the detection of potato viruses in tubers
- Application of real-time PCR for pathogen detection
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Fertility gradients of pollen grains along inflorescences
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Physiological seed maturity
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Floral induction and development
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Evaluation of Saccharum officinarum L. germplasm
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Interspecific hybridization
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Recurrent selection for high sucrose content
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Cross evaluation at early stages of selection
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Inheritance of resistance to rust diseases
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Shortening the selection process
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Varieties suitable for mechanized harvesting in the superhumid zone
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Merits of visual selection at Stage 2
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Evaluation of establishment rate of varieties in the selection programme
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Multiplication procedures for experimental varieties
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Computerized systems for management of breeding and selection records
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The appropriateness of the Augmented Latin Square Design in Stages 2 and 3 of selection
- Incidence of armyworms, Mythimna spp., in mechanical harvested sugar cane fields
- Biology and Ecology of Mythimna spp.
- Management of Mythimna spp.
- Incidence of parasitoids on Mythimna spp.
- Biological control of the soft scale Pulvinaria iceryi
- Susceptibility of new and promising cane varieties to spotted borer and scale insect
- Preventive measures against the entry of Hoplochelus marginalis into Mauritius
- Biology and ecology of Heteronychus licas
- Microbial control of Heteronychus licas, using biopesticides
Potato
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Breeding of clones under lowland tropical conditions
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Multiplication and certification of imported and local potato varieties
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Detection and control of potato viruses
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Evaluation of varieties for resistance to bacterial wilt, late blight and early blight
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Management of leaf miners, thrips, leaf eating caterpillars and aphids in potato fields
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Efficacy of new fungicides against late blight
- Breeding of local clones for ware and processing
- Selection of foreign imported varieties
- Selection of varieties for Rodrigues
- Optimum seed size and use of cut seeds
Palm
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Optimum sucker population density in pejibaye palm
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Introduction and evaluation of oil palm varieties
Pitaya
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Adaptation and compatibility of clones in three agro-ecological zones
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Evaluation of local crosses
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Selection of imported clones
- Flowering behavior, fruit set and fruit characteristics of clones
Other Crops
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Introduction, evaluation and multiplication of superior cultivars of selectred fruit crops
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Introduction of selected new crops
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Monitoring the incidence of gumming, leaf scald and yellow spot
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Assessment of new varieties for resistance to gumming, leaf scald, yellow spot, smut and rust
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Evaluation of progenies for resistance to yellow spot, brown spot and rust inheritance studies
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Monitoring of diseases in cane nurseries
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Quarantine of introduced varieties
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Soil transmission of ratoon stunting disease
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Symptomatology, detection and control of yellow leaf syndrome
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Microbiology of sugars
Curation of Herbarium collections
- Creation and maintenance of an electronic database
- Re-organisation and updating of collections as per APG III
- Implementation of new security and pest control techniques
'Flore des Mascareignes'
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Collection of supplementary material for remaining families to be published
Population and community studies for conservation of native biodiversity
- Long-term and large scale community studies through permanent plots to understand forest degradation and recovering after removal of invasive species
- Unravel several aspects of the ecology of endangered native species in view to better addressing recovery programmes
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Formulation of new special sugars and improvement of existing ones
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Possible use of microwave techniques for on-line Brix management and control
cane deterioration through dextran formation
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Evaluation of high extraction mill
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Near infrared spectroscopy of juice and molasses for Brix, pol, sucrose and reducing sugars
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Evaluation of a high wavelength polarimeter for pol determination without the use of toxic reagents
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Energy audits in a sugar factory
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Noise abatement measures
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Crop cycle studies
- Grouping of Small Planters into LAMUs
- SIRITell on the INTERNET