Diversification of breeding program to develop multipurpose sugarcane cultivars

Abstract

Diversification is one way of sustenance of any crop. With this in mind, we initiated a selection program at Mitr Phol Sugarcane Research Centre, Thailand to develop sugarcane cultivars for value addition through improved fiber content. A set of 21 cultivars, selected on fibre, Brix, and yield was evaluated along with a standard commercial cultivar K 84–200 in a field trial (RCBD with three replications) during the period 2005 to 2007. Cane stalk samples collected from 7th month till harvest were analyzed for fibre content and Commercial Cane Sugar (CCS) to establish their maturity pattern. We observed significant differences for cane yield, CCS, purity, sugar yield, fibre content and fibre yield. Fibre content ranged from 13.5% to 19.3% with two cultivars outperforming K 84–200 by more than 25% for fibre content while 12 cultivars had additional fibre content of more than 1% compared to K 84–200. Seven cultivars were multipurpose types with superior fibre content, CCS, and yield. Cultivar MPT 99–582, which recorded cane yield of 102 t/ha, CCS 13.2 and fibre content 15.5% was better performing than K 84–200 by 8, 10, 12, 23 and 21% for fibre, CCS, cane yield, sugar yield and fibre yield, respectively. Based on their performance in terms of fibre, CCS, and yield, 11 cultivars were selected and planted in two ecological trials (six 10 meter rows with 4 replication in RCBD). The data from these two trials reconfirmed the multipurpose nature of the varieties with MPT 99–582 being superior. The studies indicated that we could select multipurpose cultivars with improved fibre content and sugar yield. These cultivars would increase the amount of bagasse produced in sugar mills leading to a higher quantity of bagasse available either for co-generation or production of particle boards.