The setts can be planted at a 45 degree angle or laid horizontally in a furrow. Sugar cane is a perennial crop which usually produces crops for about 3-6 years before being replanted. Reaping is usually done by hand with a cutlass, although mechanical harvesters are being developed. Ratoon crops take about one year to mature. There are many diseases and pests which may effect sugar cane.
Red rot causes the setts to be seriously damaged at low temperatures.
Pineapple disease attacks the setts causing the center to turn black and smell like overripe pineapples. Downy mildew is currently only found in the western Pacific and was responsible for severe losses in Queensland until rigorous controls were initiated. Mosaic is a viral disease, whose vectors include Aphis maidis Fitch, was first recognized in Java in 1892 and causes severe stunting in some cases. The most destructive insects of sugar cane are stem-borers, the larvae of several genera of moths. The larvae burrow into the stem and on emergence cause loss of sucrose and weakened stems.