Abstract
The study was conducted during 2012/2013 at Wonji Sugar Estate, Ethiopia, to estimate the extent of morphological diversity among sugarcane germplasm based on 16 qualitative traits. Four hundred sugarcane genotypes grouped in 20 locations were considered. Phenotypic frequency distributions of the characters were analyzed and Shannon-Weaver diversity index (H′) was computed using the phenotypic frequencies. Results indicated that the variation inH′within locations was larger than the diversity observed between locations. The value ofH′for all sample genotypes ranged from 0.43 to 0.98 with a mean of 0.87. Considerable phenotypic diversity was observed among the germplasm studied. This information can be used for establishing proper identity of the accessions, strategic conservation of these germplasm resources, and future improvement work of the sugarcane crop. This is the first study to report phenotypic diversity of local and exotic sugarcane genotypes in Ethiopia.
Highlights
Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is an important food crop of the tropics and subtropics [1]
Significant differentiation of accessions from regions in Ethiopia and other countries was observed for bud cushion, bud shape, shape of dewlap, relative degree of internode alignment, internode shape, type of outer auricle, shape of ligule, bud groove, canopy structure, and leaf color
Among the 16 qualitative traits measured in the 400 sugarcane germplasm samples, the highest diversity index (H) was obtained for relative degree of internode alignment and the lowest value was recorded for stalk corky crack
Summary
Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is an important food crop of the tropics and subtropics [1] It is cultivated in many countries between 40∘N and 32.5∘S [2] and cane sugar constitutes about 60% of the total sugar produced in the world [3]. At the end of the GTP sugar production will be boosted from the current level of 0.3 to 3.9 million tons, ethanol production will be 31,341 m3, and the factories will contribute 448-megawatt electric power to the national grid. For this big dream to become realized the contribution of improved sugarcane varieties is immense
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