The work was carried out between two harvesting seasons, without burn, to evaluate the residual effect of the nitrogen fertilization on the 2nd ratoon crop of sugar cane (harvest 1999/2000), and the effect of N and S content in the root system on the following productivity of the next cycle (3rd ratoon crop - harvest 2000/2001). The experiment design was in randomized blocks with six treatments and four replications. The harvest 1999/2000 treatments were 0, 35, 70, 105, 140 and 175 kg ha-1 of N as ammonium nitrate), which was applied over the stove. In the 3rd ratoon crop 100 kg ha-1 of N were applied in all the treatments of the previous harvest season. The first year plots contained microplots, which received the ammonium nitrate labeled with 15N in the ammonium fraction. N doses showed high significant linear effect in the cane production of the 2nd ratoon crop as well as on the next harvest season (3rd ratoon crop) even applied in a unique N dose; nitrogen fertilization and N and S content of the root system were positively related with the sugar cane productivity in the next harvest season.
Saccharum; isotope 15N; ammonium nitrate; sulfur; ratoon crop
