CANE BREEDING programme based purely on noble canes that give rise to varieties with many good qualities, however, an organized breeding programme is the basic tool to enhance the yield of both cane and sugar production in Pakistan. Cane production provides not only raw material to the sugar industries in the homeland but it also helps to fortify the economic status of the farmers. From production point of view, it is a vigorous precursor that progressive farmers are taking ardent interest to get new and fresh varieties from the breeding institute.
The Sugarcane Research Institute, Faisalabad, has evolved 22 sugarcane varieties possessing different qualitative and quantitative traits since her inception in Pakistan. Although these are very much trendy among the farmers but a newly and emerging sugarcane variety CPF-248 is introducing the farming community being medium maturing variety. Vast expansion of sugar industries necessitates prolonging the crushing season of sugar mills. Due to medium maturing variety, CPF-248 would contribute a lot within the stakeholders because this budding variety is very much legendary for its sustainable production in the trials conducted throughout the province.
The parentage of the variety is CP 89-879 x CP 90-956. The fuzz of the variety was imported to Faisalabad during 2002 from the Sugarcane Breeding Research Station, Canal Point, USA. The seedling number was assigned in 2003 as S2003-US-114 and was put in the preliminary varietal trial for comparison with other sugarcane colossal varieties.
The candidate variety showed a good performance in the preliminary varietal trial, so it was promoted and tested under semi-final and final varietal trials. The variety was also tested in different zones at farmers fields and National Uniform Variety Yield Trial (NUVYT) throughout the country.
The test variety is good in germination and tillering. It may lodge under poor management, whereas tiller mortality is less. The said variety is medium in maturity and maintains its quality through out the season. The ratoonability of the variety is good. In the mentioned Table CPF 248 has more number of tillers per plant, more cane production and more cane weight was observed by test variety than SPF 245 and HSF 240.
The performance of CPF-248 was evaluated at Sugarcane Research Institute, Faisalabad with standard cane varieties SPF-245 and HSF-240. Similarly, the variety was also tested at Sugarcane Research Station, Khanpur with standard variety HSF 240. Moreover, the variety was also tested at farmers fields throughout the Punjab Province and for NUVYT studies throughout the country. The experiments were laid out according to RCBD with three repeats at Sugarcane Research Institute, Faisalabad and Sugarcane Research Station, Khanpur. The recommended seed rate, fertilizer and irrigations were applied. The data on germination, tillering, cane stalk density and cane yield were recorded. For quality evaluation, the fortnight periodic juice analysis for Brix, Pol, purity, commercial cane sugar (CCS per cent) and sugarcane recovery percentage was done at the Sugarcane Research Institute, Faisalabad.
Disease reaction of CPF-248 was also studied under natural and artificial inoculation against red rot. The observations on Red Rot, Whip Smut, Pokkah Boeng, Mosaic Virus, rust and Red Stripe were recorded; the data on borers, sucking insects etc. were also noted during different selection stages. For identification, morphological characteristics were recorded at the end of November.
The cane quality was studied in different trials at fortnight intervals. The data regarding sugar recovery are presented here. The data revealed that CPF-248 showed 12.91 per cent sugar recovery against standard varieties SPF-245 and HSF-240 with 11.58 per cent and 12.60 per cent sugar recovery, respectively. Thus gave 9.24 per cent increased sugar recovery over standard varieties.
Ratooningability of candidate variety CPF-248 was studied at Sugarcane Research Institute, Faisalabad. The data showed that CPF-248 on an average gave 70.93 t ha-1 stripped cane yield against cane yield of 55.63 t ha-1 recorded for standard variety HSF-240. Thus the candidate variety gave 27.50 per cent more cane yield than the standard variety.
The candidate variety was also tested in in medium and late final varietal trial for 4 years from 2008-09 to 2011-12. It is a medium maturing variety with high tonnage and more recovery as compared with medium maturing varieties SPF-245 and HSF-240. Due to disease and insect tolerance, this will prove to be a good substitute of SPF-245, SPF-234 and HSF-240 throughout the Punjab province. It gave additional benefit of Rs.160,000 and 158,000/- ha-1 over standard varieties SPF-245 and HSF-240 respectively.
The new variety CPF-248 is higher cane yielder than SPF-245 and HSF-240. It is a medium maturing variety and maintains good recovery throughout the crushing season. Although this strain attains very good height, yet it lodges slightly on heavy soils. Most of the tillers produced are matured into millable canes. It does not produce off-shoots and sprouts during the season that is why it attains more height and consumes inputs more efficiently.
CPF-248 will replace the old medium maturing commercial varieties like SPF-234, HSF-240 and SPF-245. The variety is adaptable under average input conditions throughout the Punjab province.
The writers are associated with the Sugarcane Research Institute, AARI, Faisalabad, Pakistan.