Registration of ‘HoCP 91–552’ Sugarcane

Abstract

‘HoCP 91–552’ (Reg. No. CV‐143, PI 659990) sugarcane (a complex hybrid of Saccharum officinarum L., S. spontaneum L., S. barberi Jeswiet, and S. sinense Roxb. amend. Jeswiet) was released as a feedstock for an emerging bioenergy industry by the USDA‐ARS working cooperatively with the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, and the American Sugarcane League, Inc. HoCP 91–552 is a progeny of the cross LCP 81–10 × ‘CP 72–356’ made at Canal Point, FL in 1986; it was selected at Houma, LA; its permanent name was assigned in 1991. HoCP 91–552 was dropped from the sugarcane selection program in 1997 because its fiber content was unacceptable for the Louisiana sugarcane industry, but it was reevaluated as a feedstock for the bioenergy industry in three replicated yield trials harvested from 2003 to 2007. After 11 harvests, HoCP 91–552 produced 84, 11.3, and 14.3 Mg ha−1 cane, sugar, and fiber, respectively, compared with 68, 9.5, and 10.3 Mg ha−1 cane, sugar, and fiber, respectively for the commercial standard ‘LCP 85–384.’ When compared with ‘L 79–1002,’ HoCP 91–552 produced significantly more sugar, less fiber, and similar total biomass. HoCP 91–552 is resistant to brown rust (caused by Puccinia melanocephala H. and P. Sydow), leaf scald [caused by Xanthomonas albilineans (Ashby) Dowson], and mosaic diseases (caused by Sugarcane mosaic virus and Sorghum mosaic virus) and is moderately resistant to smut disease (caused by Ustilago scitaminea H. and P. Sydow) and the sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis F.). Release of HoCP 91–552 gives growers a new choice as a feedstock for the production of biofuel.