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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Canal Point, Florida » Sugarcane Field Station » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #219732
Title: Evaluation of New Canal Point Sugarcane Clones: 2006-2007 Harvest Season.

Author
item Glaz, Barry
item Comstock, Jack
item Edme, Serge
item GILBERT, ROBERT - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item DAVIDSON, WAYNE - FLORIDA SUGAR CANE LEAGUE
item Glynn, Neil

Submitted to: Government Publication/Report
Publication Type: Government Publication
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/13/2008
Publication Date: 7/1/2008
Citation: Glaz, B.S., Comstock, J.C., Edme, S.J., Gilbert, R.A., Davidson, R.W., Glynn, N.C. Evaluation of New Canal Point Sugarcane Clones: 2006-2007 Harvest Season. ARS-U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Washington, D.C., ARS-169, 32 pp.

Interpretive Summary: Farmers in Florida need a constant influx of new sugarcane varieties. Due to changes in pathogens, varieties that were once resistant and productive can quickly become susceptible and not economical. Changes in farming practices also may lead to changes in variety preferences. For example, in Florida, some varieties lost their profitability when the harvesting system was changed from manual to mechanical. This is a report of the progress on sugarcane varieties in an advanced selection stage of the Canal Point cooperative sugarcane variety development program. Members of this program include the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, and the Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc. In addition to disease resistance, this program also seeks to develop sugarcane varieties that are tolerant to freezes and grow well in the increasingly wet conditions of Florida’s commercial sugarcane fields. This report of results from the 2006-2007 harvest season, identified one promising CP variety and three promising CPCL varieties in their first year of expanded testing, one promising CP variety in its second year of testing, and three promising CPCL varieties in their third year of testing in this program. Based on data from this series of reports, CP 00-1101, CP 00-1446, and CP 00-2180 were released for commercial production in Florida. With about 405,000 acres of sugarcane, Florida, the leading sugar producing state in the U.S., produces about 25% of the sugar produced in the U.S. About 40,000 jobs and several rural economies are dependent on the constant influx of new Canal Point sugarcane varieties.

Technical Abstract: Thirty-three replicated experiments were conducted on 13 farms (representing five organic and four sand soils) to evaluate 47 new Canal Point (CP) and 11 new Canal Point and Clewiston (CPCL) clones of sugarcane from the CP 02, CP 01, CP 00, CP 99, CPCL 99, CPCL 97, and CPCL 96 series. Experiments compared the cane and sugar yields of the new clones, complex hybrids of Saccharum spp., primarily with yields of CP 89-2143, and to a lesser extent with CP 72-2086 and CP 78-1628. All three were major sugarcane cultivars in Florida. Each clone was rated for its tolerance to diseases and cold temperatures. Based on results of these and previous years’ tests, three new clones—CP 00-1101, CP 00-1446, and CP 00-2180--were released for commercial production in Florida.