Field evaluation of the potential of drought-tolerant sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) mutants based on morpho-agronomic characters

Abstract

A mutation scheme followed by an in-vitro selection is one of the breeding tools for developing drought-tolerant sugarcane varieties. This study aimed to select the drought-tolerant sugarcane mutants. Twenty-seven mutant genotypes that passed the in-vitro selection for drought-tolerant and a Bululawang variety as control were examined in this study. The field evaluation was done in Asembagus, Situbondo, East Java, from January 2019 to December 2020. The four-month-old plants were exposed to drought conditions for two months period. The experiment used a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The observations were made on morpho-agronomic parameters such as a leaf, leaf sheath, internode, stem, bud characters, stem length, diameter, stem weight, internode’s number and length, yield, and Brix. Results showed that three mutant genotypes performed better under simulated drought stress than the BL variety with higher yield potential (> 125 ton ha−1). These mutants differed from their original cultivar in the leaf sheath, internode, stem, and bud, hairy, and adherence-leaf sheath characters. Shortly, further evaluation of agronomical performances will be made on the first and second ratoon.

Assessment of the Genetic Diversity of New Sugarcane Hybrids Using Principal Component and Cluster Analyses

“…In general, most hybrids responded significantly to this variable when compared to the control cultivars. The length of milling stalks is one of the characteristics that can indicate the tolerance of sugarcane to drought stress, in addition to having a wide heritability, so it can be used as a selection criterion in breeding programs (Hartati and Yuniyati, 2022). In addition to the genotype factor, the significant differences found in stem height may be related to the climatic conditions and soil characteristics in the area where the study was conducted since the driest period coincides with the formative phase of sugarcane, a limiting factor for the normal development of the hybrids (Zhao et al, 2020).…”