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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Canal Point, Florida » Sugarcane Field Station » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #156230
Title: SUGARCANE VARIETY CENSUS FLORIDA 2003

Author
item Glaz, Barry
item vonderwell, Jennifer

Submitted to: Sugar Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/2004
Publication Date: 8/1/2004
Citation: Glaz, B. and J. Vonderwell. 2004. Sugarcane variety census: Florida 2003. Sugar Journal 67(2): 11-19

Interpretive Summary: Florida sugarcane farmers produce about 25% of domestic sugar, more than is produced in any other state. Their cultivars come from a private genetics program of the United States Sugar Corporation in Clewiston, Florida and a public program at Canal Point, Florida. The public program is supported by USDA-ARS, the Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc., and the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. This census reports total Florida sugarcane acreage, total acreage by cultivar for cultivars grown on more than 1% of Florida=s 2003 439,338 sugarcane acres, and cultivars most likely to be used for organic or sand soils, fallow or continuous planting, and manual or mechanical planting. The information summarized in this census was supplied by growers and mill managers. Cultivars from the USDA-supported program comprised 90.2% of the total acreage. Of the total sugarcane acreage, 82.1% was organic soil and 17.9% was sand soil. Data estimated that 67% of Florida's sugarcane was planted manually and 33% mechanically. The census quantifies variety use industry wide for growers, and helps scientists plan experiments with the cultivars, planting systems, and soil types that best represent current industry trends. CP 80-1743 was the leading cultivar in Florida, and CP 78-1628, the second most widely grown cultivar overall, was the most widely grown on sand soils.

Technical Abstract: The Florida sugarcane industry produces about 25% of all sugar produced in the U.S. Varieties originate from two sources, a private breeding and selection program of the United States Sugar Corporation in Clewiston, Florida and a public program at Canal Point, Florida supported by USDA-ARS, the University of Florida-IFAS, and the Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc. The purposes of this survey were to account for relative use among commercial sugarcane varieties, amount of sugarcane grown on organic and sand soils, percentages of sugarcane planted in the regular and successive planting cycles as well as by mechanical and manual planting systems. Uses of varieties by soil type, planting cycle, and planting system were also documented. This information was requested for all land in Florida on which sugarcane is grown. Most of the information was obtained from sugarcane mills, but a small percentage of the information was obtained from independent growers. Varieties from the Canal Point breeding and selection program comprised 90.2% of the total cane acreage and varieties from the Clewiston program comprised 9.8% of Florida=s sugarcane. CP 80-1743 with 28.7% and CP 78 1628 with 12.3% of the hectarage were the two most widely grown varieties among Florida=s 177,870 sugarcane hectares. About 82.1% of Florida=s sugarcane was on organic soils, 17.9% on sand soils, 67% planted manually, and 33% planted mechanically.