Registration of ‘L 79‐1002’ Sugarcane

Abstract

‘L 79‐1002’ (Reg. No. CV‐132, PI 651501) sugarcane (a complex hybrid of Saccharum officinarum L., S. spontaneum L., S. barberi Jeswiet, and S. sinense Roxb. amend. Jeswiet) was released on 26 Apr. 2007 by the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in cooperation with the USDA‐ARS and the American Sugarcane League, Inc. The cross for L 79‐1002, a F1 hybrid, was made in 1974 using ‘CP 52‐68’ as the female parent and Tainan, a S. spontaneum clone, as the male parent. Initial clonal selection was done in single stools. Testing was done from 1976 through 1983 in yield trials conducted in the traditional sugarcane growing area in south Louisiana and in the colder, non‐sugarcane growing regions of north Louisiana. Yield testing was resumed in 2002 through 2005 as interest in biofuels research renewed. L 79‐1002 was released for an emerging biofuels industry because of its high fiber content and biomass (cane yield) potential. Average fiber content for L 79‐1002 is approximately 257 g kg−1 The new cultivar also has excellent vigor and ratooning ability. Experiments conducted at Bossier City, Louisiana (32.1° N lat) indicated a broader range of adaptability than sugarcane cultivars grown for the production of sucrose.

Energy Cane: Its Concept, Development, Characteristics, and Prospects

“…Also, higher S. spontaneum contribution may lead to a rhizomatous habit [57,70], a trait that helps in increasing the resistance of the crown to stresses, mainly the deleterious effect of heavy traffic during harvest and hauling. In conventional sugarcane the yield declines from plant-cane to older ratoons (see review in [67,71]), but some studies have shown that in energy cane it increases from plant cane to first and second ratoons, and high productivity is maintained for at least eight ratoons [24,61,72]. Higher tillering ability has also been observed even in BC 1 clones by several authors as will be mentioned later.…”

“…As a result, the Louisiana program succeeded in releasing three cultivars [72,95] and others are coming. In Florida, USA, the breeders also began the breeding of energy canes [38] and Legendre and Burner [37] found that first generation hybrids (F 1 ) are best suited for energy cane pointing out that backcrosses reduce biomass yield components and that the higher the number of backcrosses the higher that dilution.…”

“…The joint Louisiana State University (LSU) and the Houma-USDA program succeeded in producing some energy cane cultivars, and one, US79-1002, presented percentage of fiber as high as 28% and exceptionally high productivity: five harvests from a single planting averaged 211 t⋅ha −1 per harvest, with continual yield increase from plant cane to fourth ratoon (total biomass, wet basis) against 58 t⋅ha −1 for a conventional sugarcane cultivar [61]. Later Bischoff et al [72] confirmed the high potential productivity of that variety; it gave a steady linear increase in productivity, departing from 182 t⋅ha −1 in plant cane to reach 247 t⋅ha −1 in the fifth ratoon. It is necessary to mention here that the above cultivar and others released later in Louisiana (to be mentioned later) are all Type I as defined above and also a short growth cycle driven by temperate climate.…”

“…Modern studies are confirming claims that those latter two species are not true species and should rather be considered as horticultural groups (cultigens) that originated from natural crosses between S. officinarum and S. spontaneum (see revision in [46,118]). As such, it is reasonable to speculate that their shorter rhizomes are result of the dilution of the original rhizomatous trait of S. spontaneum) and are distinguishing characteristics that confer many practical advantages: (1) the plant tolerates drought stress better [111]; (2) the regrowth after the harvest is better [111,119]; (3) the plant more efficiently exploits the soil resources [72]; (4) the protection of the soil against erosion is more efficient [120]; (5) rhizomes aid in sustainable ratooning, an important characteristic for economic and environmental reasons, as discussed elsewhere (e.g., [121,122]) and (6) there is a comparatively higher yield in most environments especially in marginal conditions of soil and climate (actually, all those characteristics are applied to selectable individuals in the population under selection. As indicated in the text, the diversity available in the germplasm bank is so big that the mating possibilities are enormous and, obviously, not all the families or individuals within a family are superior in all the desirable traits).…”

The potential of the energy cane as the main biomass crop for the cellulosic industry

“…The idea of using sugarcane as energy plant, rather than just a source of sucrose, was started in the late seventies of past century in the USA because of the oil crisis and the foresight of more problems in the future [55][56][57]. At that time, it was demonstrated that in addition of using sugarcane for the production of fuel ethanol, like Brazil was doing, one could look at the sugarcane as a major biomass producer plant instead of targeting only the stalk and, from this, sucrose only [55].…”