Glyphosate applied at a hormetic dose improves ripening without impairing sugarcane productivity and ratoon sprouting.

The management of sugarcane ripening is essential to ensuring the supply of high-quality raw material for the sugar-alcohol industry; chemical ripeners are frequently used to accelerate sucrose accumulation in the stalks during harvesting. The potential ripening effect of a low dose of glyphosate was evaluated in sugarcane, along with its impact on productivity and sprouting in the next crop cycle. A field experiment was conducted in 2015 and 2016 using a randomized block design with eight replicates in a split-plot scheme, with the following treatments: (1) control with only water application, (2) glyphosate at a low dose of 1.