There are very few references related to works where tensiome-ters have been used to plan the implementation of irrigation insugarcane. Batchelor et al. (1990) carried out readings in a net-work of tensiometers installed at different depths and distances ofthe lines of a drip irrigation system in sugarcane. Although theirwork did not aim to the use of tensiometers as indicators of thebeginning of the application of irrigation in the sugarcane, highercane and sucrose yields were observed when the amount of irri-gation water was equal to the ETC of the crop. The tensiometersreadings indicated a moisture tension of about −10 kPa at 30 cmdepth, immediately beneath the irrigation line, which appearedto be close to the results obtained in this work. Nevertheless, theobserved results in this work differ from those obtained by Hodnettet al. (1990), who used six tensiometers installed at 65 cm depth,three on one side and three on the other side of the drip line,to determine the beginning of irrigation in sugarcane, and theyapplied two treatments, corresponding to soil moisture tension val-ues of −8 and −20 kPa as indicators of irrigation. Although they didnot perform a statistical analysis of their results, the cane yieldsfound varied, in all treatments, from 114.7 to 130.7 t ha−1; bothresulted when irrigation was applied to a soil moisture tensionof −8 kPa. These authors did not find any soil-moisture tensioneffect on cane yield. Wiedenfeld, (2004), in a similar work, com-pared the use of tensiometers and a water balance method viaestimates of crop evapotranspiration by using crop coefficients and“pan factors” to plan the implementation of irrigation in the crop.Irrigation was applied when the soil moisture tension, measuredat a depth of 46 cm below the furrows, reached values of −30,−50 and −70 kPa. No significant differences were found in caneor sucrose yield between methods, or between moisture tensionstreatments. In our case, statistically significant differences in caneand sucrose yields between the moisture tension treatments were found. which differ from the results obtained by the authors pre-viously mentioned. This could be because, in their works, moisturetension was measured deeper, since the most significant variationsin soil moisture occur at the soil surface (because of the rain andapplication of irrigation) and small soil moisture variations takeplace in deep layers of the soil. The difference in depth at whichsoil moisture tension was measured may have resulted in the differ-ences found between the previous works and the results presentedherein. Gaudin and Rapanoelina (2003) proposed the implementa-tion of deep tensiometers to assess the importance of capillary risefrom any water table formed during the rainy season. Knowledgeof ascending flow is important for the monitoring of irrigation inthe ripening stage of the cane.