Sugarcane borer Diatraea saccharalis is one of the most important pests of sugarcane in Brazil, being its influence on technological parameters of the new cultivars stalks used as raw material for sugar and ethanol industry unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of infestation levels on technological parameters of the stalks of three sugarcane varieties IAC91-1099, IACSP93-3046 and IACSP95-5000. Stalks harvested in field were grouped in order to compose samples with 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15% of bored internodes. High levels of bored internodes resulted in high values of fiber and reducing sugars and in lower values of sugarcane pol and purity. On average, the curve that represent the relationship between sugarcane pol (y) and infestation level (x) was y=16.591-0.0672x, with the coefficient of determination (r²) of 0.92.
Saccharum; sugarcane borer; loses
