Auzoux, S. et al. Proc. Int. Sugar Cane Technol., Vol. 28, 2013 ______________________________________________________________________________________ 1 REBECCA-DB.A: AN OPENSOURCE FLEXIBLE DATABASE FOR MANAGING DATA FROM ENERGY CANE By S. AUZOUX 1 , J.L. CHOPART 1 and P. JACQUET 2 1 CIRAD, UR SCA, Montpellier, France 2 CED, REBECCA project, Capesterre, France sandrine.auzoux@cirad.fr KEYWORDS: Experimental Database, Sugarcane Biomass, Low Heating Value, Fibre Content, Data Management. Abstract REBECCA IS A RESEARCH project on energy cane in Guadeloupe aiming at producing electricity from the burning of the whole sugarcane. This project has emphasised the importance to store, share and manipulate numerous field data and NIRS analyses collected. A relational database named REBECCA-DB.A has been created to manage agronomic and genotypic data from the project including biomass, fibre content, and low heating value of several above-ground biomass components (millable stalks, top of the stalks, green and dead leaves). The results of the analysis of fibre content and low heating value can be automatically imported into the database from the NIRS system. Data can be exported in an appropriate format to be used in other statistical and modelling tools; for example as input data in the tool REBECCA-LCA to carry out environmental studies on energy cane. From the results of biomass and biomass quality of 35 cultivars, it has been possible to easily select the best three cultivars for use as energy canes taking into account the main functional characteristics. REBECCA-DB.A, originally designed for a specific project, could be adapted for other applications on energy or fibre cane studies. This is a free tool within the scientific community. Introduction The REBECCA project (REsearch Biomass Energy Sugar Cane CApesterre) is a research program conducted in Guadeloupe that aims to generate electricity from cane fibre (Chopart, 2012). The first step of the project was to select varieties with a low water content and high calorific value taking into account requirements of farmers and millers and to find cultural practices allowing production almost all of the year (Chopart and Bachelier, 2012). To analyse the experimental results, it was necessary to store, share and manipulate all the field data and NIRS analyses collected. Other modelling and decision-making support tools developed for the economic and environmental components of the project REBECCA need field and laboratory data for simulations. To manage agronomic and genotypic data, such as biomass, fibre content, and low heating value of several above-ground biomass components, a database named REBECCA-DB.A was developed. This functional tool is described and an example of results is presented. Experiments and methods There were 2 sets of experiments: the varietal experiments and the agronomic experiments. In the varietal experiments, crops were harvested at two stages (8 and 12 months after planting) to study the biomass yield (stems and leaves), fibre content and low heating value of dry biomass (LHVd). Agronomic experiments were planted at 3 dates and harvested after 6, 8 or