Impact of Wilt on Flowering and Ratoon Establishment in Parental Clones of Sugarcane

Abstract

National Hybridization Garden (NHG) at ICAR-SBI, Coimbatore, India, is the national resource for sugarcane breeding and varietal development in India. The parental clones are being maintained under disease free conditions to utilize them in sugarcane hybridization and varietal development in the country. Recently, wilt struck some of the parental clones, that affected their utilization in breeding programme. Hence, a detailed study was conducted to assess the impact of wilt on flowering and ratoon establishment in about 225 parental clones at NHG. Of the 225 clones, 108 remained free from wilt and the remaining 117 clones exhibited varying incidences of wilt. Majority of wilt-free clones recorded more than 75 to 100% flowering, whereas wilt-affected clones recorded severe impact on flowering. Wilt susceptible clones exhibited very poor sprout emergence in their ratoons and the losses in sprout emergence ranged from 62.9 to 98.5%. In contrast, majority of the 22 resistant clones that exhibited 100% flowering recorded 3.33 to 115.2% higher sprout emergence in the ratoons as compared to the number of canes in the plant crop. Similar impact was observed on flowering and ratoon sprout emergence in 44 popular female parental clones. The NHG being a national resource for sugarcane breeding, it has to be maintained free from wilt and other serious diseases to continuously harness the genetic potential of the clones and to advance varietal development in the country. The present study has clearly revealed a severe impact of wilt on sugarcane growth, flowering an important trait for sugarcane breeding and ratoon crop establishment. This also reiterates the need for an integrated approach for wilt management in sugarcane parents and similar strategies for the crop under commercial cultivation.