Exploitation of somaclonal variations for improvement of sugar recovery in sugarcane

Somaclonal variations present an excellent approach to introduce genetic diversity in sugarcane. Somaclones of NIA-2010, a high yielding variety with moderate sugar recovery, were developed through callus culture. After initial selection, fifteen somaclones were transplanted in field along with the parent, for two consecutive years. Some of the somaclones illustrated improved quantitative traits viz. height, girth, internodes length, and tillers per plant; whereas, cane quality related characters including CCS, sugar recovery and purity were enhanced in most of the tissue culture derived plants. However, none of the somaclones could surpass the parent in terms of sugar yield per ha. Pearson’s correlation analysis indicated a strong positive correlation of the cane quality related traits among each other. Analysis of genetic parameters depicted considerably greater genotypic variance than the environmental variance, and high heritability for all the characters studied. Two somaclones i.e. 1026-P24 and 1026-P12 showed exceptionally high cane quality traits as compared to other somaclones and the parent. Hence, they can serve as potential candidates for cultivation and adoptability in Pakistan.