Sugarcane genetic resources in Cuba: Conservation, evaluation and use

The Genetic Resources in Cuba have been developed favorably and their Core Collection was stable between 3200-3400 accessions, with different Saccharum species, hybrids of 39 countries and related genera. The ex situ conservation are the main replicates of the collection; therefore, the genetic erosion was not significant. To rationalize the evaluation a Core Collection of 8,9 % was established, which does not affect the mean and the variability of the characters of economic importance. The use includes more than 300 parents that produce 175-200 thousand seedlings annually, which selected and released 52 cultivars in the last 20 years.