Evaluation of Saccharum and Erianthus Introgressed Early Generation Novel Sugarcane Hybrids as Potential Sources of Biomass for Cogeneration

Sugarcane is an important industrial crop and an excellent feedstock for bio-energy as an alternate to fossil energy source. Early generation hybrids were developed from the introgression of commercial varieties with wild grass (Saccharum spontaneum) and wild relative (Erianthus spp.) and the resultant hybrids produced higher cane fibre and harvestable biomass than commercial varieties under cultivation. The present study consists of 57 early generation hybrids (31 BMC and 26 BM) derived from interspecific and intergeneric hybridization of commercial sugarcane varieties with Saccharum complex (Saccharum officinarum, S. spontaneum, S. robustum, S. barberi and S. sinense) and Erianthus arundinaceus evaluated in randomized block design (RBD) trials over two consecutive seasons, and significant differences were observed for juice quality, cane parameters, fibre and biomass traits. Significant positive correlation was observed for fresh and dry biomass yield with number of shoots at 120 days and number of millable canes at 360 days. Fibre per cent had shown highly significant positive correlation with dry biomass per cent and dry biomass yield (t/ha). The PCA analysis has revealed that PC1 and PC2 were responsible for 70.33% and 67.99% of variance, respectively, while PC2 and PC3 were responsible for 41.25% and 46.96% of the variance, respectively. Cluster analysis revealed that four hybrids (BMC 6, BMC 17, BMC 25, and BMC 27) of BMC group and six hybrids (BM 5, BM 6, BM 11, BM 12, BM 14, and BM 16) of BM groups were numerically superior for fresh biomass yield (> 240 t/ha) and higher fibre per cent (> 20%) than the energy cane standards SBIEC 11001 and SBIEC 11003, respectively. These clones need further validation before could be exploited for cogeneration and as a parents for development of energy canes through hybridization.