AGRONOMIC PERFORMANCE AND INDUSTRIAL CHARACTERS OF SELECTED SUGARCANE VARIETIES UNDER FINCHAA VALLEY CONDITIONS

A field experiment to evaluate and select the desirable agronomic and industrial characters of seven sugarcane varieties was initiated in 1998 and repeated in 1999 through to 2001 cropping seasons in Finchaa valley. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications was used on two soil types (Luvisol and Vertisol). Variety CO421 performed better than the existing commercial varieties on both Luvisol and Vertisol soil in terms of number of tillers (200 x 103 and 120 x 103 ha1), cane yield (213 and 140 t ha -1 ) and sugar yield (30.2 and 17.4 t ha -1 ) with better tolerance to lodging. CO1001 and Mexico54/245 varieties also out yielded the present two commercial varieties (B41227 and CO449) in Luvisol soil but resulted in lower cane and sugar yield in Vertisol soil than any of the four commercial varieties. Of the commercial varieties NCO334 had high numbers of millable canes in both soil types (120 x 103 and 101 x 103 ha -1 ) but possessed the least weight per plant (1.65 and 1.47 kg, respectively). B52298 had thicker cane girth (3.11 and 2.92 cm) and higher cane yield (184 and 141 t ha -1 ). The present investigation evaluated the seven sugarcane varieties for their desirable characters only on plant canes (first cutting). The overall yield stability of sugarcane is, however, the resultant effect of both plant cane and ratoons. Since disease and other undesirable characters are expressed mostly in the ratoon canes (second and third cuttings) than in plant cane (first cutting), there should be sufficient information on the ratoon canes of these varieties. Hence, repeating a similar study on both plant and ratoon cane is worth considering for future investigation.