ARS | Publication request: Registration of 'HoCP 91-552' sugarcane

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Registrations
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: November 8, 2010
Publication Date: May 1, 2011
Citation: Tew, T.L., Dufrene Jr, E.O., Cobill, R.M., Garrison, D.D., White, W.H., Grisham, M.P., Pan, Y.-B., Legendre, B.L., Richard Jr, E.P., Miller, J.D. 2011. Registration of 'HoCP 91-552' sugarcane. Journal of Plant Registrations. 5:181-190.

Interpretive Summary: As the biofuels industry is developing, there is an urgent need to identify and make available sugarcane varieties that excel in the yield of both soluble (sugar) and insoluble (fiber) solids. ‘HoCP 91-552’ was developed through cooperative research by the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Sugarcane Research Unit, the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station of the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, and the American Sugarcane League of the U.S.A., Inc. This variety was earlier evaluated for its potential as a commercial sugarcane variety, but was no longer advanced after 1996, because of its unacceptably high fiber content for commercial sugar recovery. With a renewed national interest in biofuels crops, HoCP 91-552 was re-evaluated. It was installed in multi-year, chopper-harvested energy cane yield trials at two locations, Schriever and Welsh, LA, beginning in 2002. After 12 harvests, HoCP 91-552 produced 24% more cane, 20% more sugar, and 39% more fiber than the Louisiana sugarcane industry’s standard, ‘LCP 85-384.’ HoCP 91-552 is resistant to brown rust, smut, leaf scald, and mosaic diseases. It is moderately resistant to the sugarcane borer. It was released as a high-fiber sugarcane variety for the biofuels industry on 26 April 2007. This cultivar will provide the biofuels industry with an important additional option during the industry’s early expansion stage.

Technical Abstract: ‘HoCP 91-552’ sugarcane was selected from progeny of the cross ‘LCP 81-10’ x ‘CP 72-356’ made at Canal Point, Florida. HoCP 91-552 was developed through cooperative research by the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Sugarcane Research Unit, the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station of the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, and the American Sugarcane League of the U.S.A., Inc., and was released in the spring of 2007. After 12 harvests from three energy cane tests at two diverse locations, HoCP 91-552 produced 24% more cane, 20% more sugar, and 39% more fiber than the Louisiana sugarcane industry’s standard, ‘LCP 85-384.’ HoCP 91-552 is resistant to brown rust, smut, leaf scald, and mosaic diseases. It is moderately resistant to the sugarcane borer. HoCP 91-552 will be maintained at the USDA-ARS Southern Regional Research Center’s Sugarcane Research Unit, located at Houma, Louisiana, for five years. As a dedicated feedstock for the production of bioenergy, this cultivar will provide growers a badly needed alternative to smut-susceptible L 79-1002.