Visual selection for brix yield at single clump (ratoon of seedling) stage in sugarcane (Saccharum interspecific hybrids)

Three visual selection methods, viz. superior, random and poor were carried out in a ratoon crop of seedlings of three open (general) crosses of sugarcane. The selection methods were compared by evaluating the clones in the settling nursery under normal and restricted irrigation for brix yield and its component traits. Superior selection was found advantageous for increasing mean brix yield and also for identifying promising clones as compared to poor and random selection methods. The results suggested that the large population of a cross can be reduced by rejecting poor ratooned clumps on the basis of visual assessment as ratoonability is an important commercial trait in sugarcane.