EARLY EVALUATION OF NEW SUGARCANE CLONES IN TWO CROP CYCLES AND INTERRELATIONSHIPS AMONG YIELD AND AGRONOMIC TRAITS

Selecting and developing new high-yielding cane varieties is crucial to enhance its production and meet the ever-increasing demands of sugar. Twenty sugarcane clones (genotypes) and one check cultivar were grown in a randomized complete block design, with three replications, at Mattana Agricultural Research Station (latitude of 25° 17' N and longitude of 32° 33'), Luxor Governorate, Egypt, during 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. The objective of this study was to evaluate and calculate interrelationships (correlations) among yield and quality traits in plant cane (PC) and 1 st ratoon crop (FR) at early clonal selection stage under Upper Egypt conditions. The results showed significant (p ≤ 0.05) differences among the genotypes in cane yield and its component traits, sugar yield and quality traits, except for purity percentage. The interaction of genotype x crop cycle was highly significant for most studied traits (p ≤ 0.01), and insignificant for purity, sugar recovery percentages and sugar yield. Genotype, viz., G.2017-68, showed substantial superiority over the others, recording the highest cane yield. Sugarcane G.2017-30 genotype produced the highest sugar yield/fed, while the lowest was given by G.2017-28. The correlation analysis manifested that the cane diameter, number of stalks per meter and cane height contributed the most in the harvestable cane yield. Different variations among the tested clones were noticed in the studied traits; it ranged from low for (stalk diameter cm; brix% and purity%) medium for (stalk length cm; sucrose% and sugar recovery%) to high for (number of stalks per m 2 ; cane yield and sugar yields ton/fed). Based on the performance of the genotypes across the two crop cycles, the selection at the plant cane and 1 st ratoon can be recommended at early clonal stage though it cannot be considered sufficient for mid stages.