Registration of ‘Ho 00‐961’ Sugarcane

Abstract

‘Ho 00‐961’ (Reg. No. CV‐146, PI 659769) sugarcane (a complex hybrid of Saccharum officinarum L., S. spontaneum L., S. barberi Jeswiet, and S. sinense Roxb. amend. Jeswiet) was selected by the USDA‐ARS Sugarcane Research Unit and evaluated cooperatively with the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center and the American Sugar Cane League, Inc. Ho 00‐961 is a progeny of the cross US 94‐1 × ‘HoCP 91‐552’ made in 1995 and selected in the first‐ratoon seedling crop in 1997. Ho 00‐961 is being released as a cultivar with moderately high fiber content, moderately high sugar content, and high total cane yield—important traits for sugarcane to be grown as a biofuel feedstock. In 12 harvested evaluations, Ho 00‐961 had an overall mean Brix value of 141 g kg−1 versus 146 g kg−1 for the cultivar standard ‘LCP 85‐384’. The mean fiber content (stalks processed with tops and leaves) for Ho 00‐961 was 186 g kg−1, compared with a fiber content of 164 g kg−1 for the cultivar LCP 85‐384. Finally, Ho 00‐961 had a total cane yield 14% greater than that of LCP 85‐834. Ho 00‐961 appears resistant to mosaic (caused by Sugarcane mosaic virus and Sorghum mosaic virus), brown rust (caused by Puccinia melanocephala H. and P. Sydow), and leaf scald [caused by Xanthomonas albilineans (Ashby) Dowson]. Although natural infection of smut (caused by Ustilago scitaminea H. and P. Sydow) was not observed in yield evaluations, Ho 00‐961 was susceptible under artificial inoculation. Ho 00‐961 is also resistant to the sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis F.).