VARIETY DEVELOPMENT PROCEDURE IN SUGARCANE

Abstract

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) is an imperative cash as well as industrial crop of different agriculturally based countries including Brazil, India, China, Pakistan and USA. A versatile crop with rich sources of food, fiber, fuel chemicals and fertilizers. Preliminary sugarcane production in Pakistan trusted on imported germplasm (True seed clones). The popular and highly successful varieties including SPF-234, HSF-240, CP 77-400, CP 43-33, CP 72-2086, SPF-213, SPF-245, CPF-237, CPF-246, CPF-248, CPF-249, NGS-599, CPF-250, CPF-251, CPF-252 and CPF-253 were selected from crosses imported from Agriculture Research Service, USDA, Canal point, USA, Sao Paul, Brazil and SRI, Sri-Lanka. HSF-240 and SPF-234 were grown successfully in several districts of Punjab where they produced high yield and ratooning ability. In Pakistan there is a lack of breeding program due to un-favorable humidity (80 to 85%), temperature (20 to 26 ° C), dark night (11:30 hr), lack of viable seed setting and lack of proper glasshouse (controlled conditions) facility at research stations. Naturally, flowering was done at Sugarcane Breeding SubStation, Murree, Thatta (Sajawal), Sindh and Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Nine-stage breeding program is currently being executed in the variety development process. More than twenty-three varieties have been approved from commercial cultivation. These clones/varieties were imported different countries and after being selected/evaluated from different varietal tests/stages got approved from commercial cultivation. There is a dire need to enhance sugarcane germplasm so that it is being used for sugarcane variety development in Pakistan. Currently, high realized selection gains are evident in most of advanced selection populations. Efforts to enhance breeding program include introgression, family evaluation, selection models and use of molecular markers.