Sugar-cane scraps mulch

How long is this stuff going to take to break down? I get the stuff they cut off the cane in order to sell fresh cane as snacks on the street. It's mostly the hard outer part with a bit of the fleshier juicy stuff on there.

I see the popularity of sugar-cane mulch in the US, and I suspect that's because it doesn't break down very fast? That's great and all, but I'm also trying to build soil at the same time as I mulch. AND, I'm finding that this stuff binds into the soil when it's worked into the ground (which happens when I bury my food scraps) and makes it difficult to dig. I might have to resort to using a fork (will have to try to buy one), but I'm wondering if sugarcane breaks down more slowly than other mulches? That will give me a better idea of how best to use it.

When I lived in New Jersey, I used bagasse as bedding for my dogs. After it was soiled, I tilled it into the garden beds where it decomposed fairly quickly. Bagasse is chopped up sugar cane that is left after the juice has been extracted, so it's the whole cane, not just the tough outer part. It was softer and more absorbent than wood chips.

Now living in Hawaii, I squeeze my own homegrown cane for juice, so I know exactly what you're talking about. It's the tough outer rind of the cane. Real tough. It takes a lot longer than bagasse to decompose. Rather than toss it into my compost pile, I will dig a trench along side a garden row and line it with the cane stalk. Then cover it over with dirt. It will eventually decompose there, but it takes a few months. Like you, I find it is a pain to try to dig the soil where I buried the cane stalks, thus the reason I choose to bury it in a walkway or beside the garden rows rather than inside the beds.

Since you are working with degraded soil due to deforestation, you will need to dig plenty of organic material into your clay and keep the surface covered from the tropical sunlight. I should think that the cane strips could be used as a top mulch which could be pulled aside when you work a garden bed, then pulled back into place for the mulching effect.

If you happen to plant any bananas or fruit trees, I think that the cane strips would be a good top mulch around the trees.

I certainly agree. Originally it was on the top, then I started a sort of lasagna method over that, which actually works well. Cover the sugar-cane scraps with soil, compost, aged manure, etc, and plant seeds. The soil washes into the cracks and the rough material holds a ton of moisture. By the time I harvest everything and am ready to begin preparing for the next planting, it should be broken down enough? Not sure. I do really like how it behaves worked into the soil to hold moisture.

We have a contact to get bagas (Haitian Kreyòl spelling), but waiting to coordinate with a truck. That will be some beautiful stuff for tilling in or mulching with!