Climatic effects on sugarcane ripening under the influence of cultivars and crop age

The lack of information about the effects of cultivars, crop age and climate on the sugarcane (Saccharum ssp.) crop yield and quality has been the primary factor impacting the sugar-ethanol sector in Brazil. One of the processes about which we do not have a satisfactory understanding is sugarcane ripening and the effects of cultivars, crop age and climate on that. Sugarcane ripening is the process of sucrose accumulation in stalks, which is heavily influenced by several factors, mainly by climatic conditions such as air temperature and water deficits. Because it is a complex process, studies of the variables involved in sugarcane ripening can provide important information, resulting in a better use of commercial cultivars, bringing advantages to growers, processing units, breeding programs and scientific community. In this review, we discuss the available knowledge of the interaction between climate conditions and sugarcane ripening, under the influence of genotypic characteristics and crop age. In several studies, the main conclusion is that sugarcane ripening depends on a complex combination of climate variables, the genetic potential of cultivars and crop management. Soil moisture and air temperature are the primary variables involved in sugarcane ripening, and their combination stimulates the intensity of the process. In addition, the need for studies integrating the effects of climate on plant physiological processes and on the use of chemical agents to stimulate sugarcane ripening is highlighted

Transforming pre-service teacher education in Bolivia: from indigenous denial to decolonisation?

In line with a broader Latin American turn to the left, since 2006 Bolivia’s ‘politics of change’ of president Evo Morales includes a new ‘decolonising’ education reform called Avelino Sinani Elizardo Perez (ASEP). With the aim to break down deep historical processes of indigenous denial and exclusion in education, this ‘revolutionary reform’ envisions a radical restructuring of Bolivian society and a revaluation of indigenous epistemological, cultural and linguistic heritage through education. Inspired by Latin America debates on coloniality theory and theories of alternative knowledges, and geared towards broader socio-political processes of social justice, Bolivia’s envisaged education transformation is built around four pillars, being: (1) decolonization, (2) intra- and inter-culturalism together with plurilingualism, (3) productive education and (4) communitarian education. The transformation of pre-service teacher education in Bolivia’s Normales is seen as a crucial step in these processes of socio-educational change. This paper particularly focuses on the ways in which the new ASEP Reforms’ first two pillars of decolonisation and inter-/intracultural education apply to pre-service teacher education and how these discourses for change stand in contrast to various implementation challenges in the teacher education sector, including: a lack of conceptual clarity and information sharing with educators, long and complex processes of a negotiated teacher education curriculum and a general shortage of both teacher trainers’ and future teachers’ indigenous language skills. While Bolivia’s new decolonising education reform is contested by various educational actors, the paper also highlights how the changed socio-political make-up helps to fuel future teachers’ indigenous self-identification, cultural recognition and pluri-linguistic potentials