1Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004Haryana, India.
2Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141 001, Punjab, India.
3Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, Maharana Pratap Horticultural University, Karnal-132 001, Haryana, India.
*Corresponding Author: Hitesh, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004Haryana, India. Email: dochitesh07@yahoo.com
Sugarcane is a vital sugar and bio-energy crop with rich in genetic diversity and holds immense potential for agricultural advancements. Leveraging this diversity, sugarcane breeding focuses on enhancing yield and sucrose quality, ensuring improved productivity and sustainability for both the sugar and bio-energy industries.
The experimental material consists of thirty sugarcane genotypes which were evaluated to assess genetic variability based on seventeen morphological and quality traits. The study was conducted using a randomized block design with three replications at the research farm of the Regional Research Station, Kaul, Kaithal, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, during the spring season of 2022–2023.
The analysis of variance showed that the mean sum of squares due to genotypes was highly significant for all the characters studied, indicating adequate genetic variability in all thirty genotypes. Higher estimates of PCV than the corresponding GCV reveal that the environment has a minor influence on several traits. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as a percent of the mean was observed for CCS (t/ha), cane yield, number of tillers at 120 DAP, number of shoots at 240 DAP and single cane weight. This underscores the importance of additive gene action, suggesting that selection for these characters would be effective for future breeding programs to improve yield and quality traits in sugarcane.
Cane yield, Genetic variability, Heritability, Sugar, Sugarcane
