Evaluation of Ratoon Characteristics of 138 Exotic Sugarcane Germplasm

PurposeTo provide reference basis for parents selection with good ratoon performance, high yield and high sugar content, the ratoon characters of sugarcane germplasm introduced from abroad were clarified.

MethodSix indexes of the second year ratoon including stalk length, stalk diameter, weight per stem, brix, millable stalks and smut disease incidence for 138 introduced sugarcane germplasm (79 from America, 49 from France and 10 from Philippines) were analyzed with ROC22 as CK.

ResultThe comprehensive agronomic characters performance for the ratoon cane showed America>France>Philippines. 30 varieties were infected with smut, accounting for 21.7% of all varieties. The disease incidence rate was France>America>Philippines. Cluster analysis showed that 139 sugarcane germplasm could be divided into 3 groups, 6 subgroups and 7 small groups. The A2 small groups and B subgroups within class Ⅲ showed better comprehensive performance than other groups.

ConclusionCP89-176, CP51-21, CP88-1834, CP67-412, FR93-774, FR97-164 and VMC71-39 had best ratoon performance in cane yield, sucrose content and strong ability, which could be considered as breeding parents.