QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF NEWLY SELECTED SUGARCANE VARIETIES

Sarhad J. Agric. Vol. 30, No. 2, 2014 QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF NEWLY SELECTED SUGARCANE VARIETIES ABSTRACT MUHAMMAD KHALID 1, HIDAYAT UR RAHMAN 1, M. ASHIQ RABBANI 3, FARHATULLAH 1 and AMANULLAH KHAN 2 1. Department of Plan Breeding and Genetics, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar- Pakistan 2. Department of Agronomy, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar- Pakistan 3. Plant Genetic Resource Institute, National Agriculture Research Center (NARC). Islamabad *Corresponding author: mkpi192@yahoo.com Assessment of morphological variations in sugarcane clones was done on the basis of five quantitative (germination %, number of tillers, plant height, cane yield, and number of millable canes) and four qualitative (c. brix %, pol %, purity % and sugar recovery) attributes. The experiment was grown in the spring cropping season of 2010-11 at Sugar Crops Research Institute (SCRI), Mardan-Pakistan in RCB, design with four replications and plot size of 67 m 2 (10m x 6.7m). A total of 16 sugarcane clones comprising 14 candidate clones i.e., MS-91-CP-272, MS-94- CP- 15, MS-91-CP-238, MS-92-CP-979, MS-99-HO-391, S-97CP-288, MS-99-HO-317, RS-97-N-45, MS-99-HO-388, MS-99-HO-675, MS-99-HO-93, S-96-SP-1215, Hoth-127 and CP-89-831 and two approved varieties i.e., CP77/400 and Mardan-93 were used in the experiment. The latter two were used as a check. The ANOVA exhibited significant (p 0.05) differences among the clones for germination %, number of tillers, plant height, number of millable canes, cane yield, purity % and sugar recovery where as non-significant (p 0.05) variations were revealed for c. brix %, and pol %. The mean data showed highest yield of 113.38 t ha -1 for MS-99-HO-317, followed by RS-97-N-45 (88.81 t ha -1 ) both being superior to the check cultivars whereas the lowest yield of 67.51 t ha -1 was given by check clone-ii i.e., Mardan-93. Similarly the maximum sugar recovery of 11.25 was exhibited by MS-99-HO-93, followed by check clone-ii i.e., Mardan-93 (11.24) whereas the lowest recovery of 9.89 was recorded for the clone MS-99-HO-388. Key words: Morphological variations, sugarcane clones, SCRI, Mardan. Citation: Khalid. M., H. U. Rahman, M. A. Rabbani, Farhatullah and A. Khan. 2014. Qualitative and quantitative assessment of newly selected sugarcane varieties. Sarhad J. Agric. 30(2): 187-191 INTRODUCTION Modern cultivated sugarcane ( Saccharum officinarum L.) is a complex inter specific hybrid of five different species of Saccharum genus. Sugarcane belongs to the Poaceae family and is normally propagated by stem cuttings (Khan et al., 2013). It is an important sugar and cash crop of Pakistan (Deho et al., 2002). The scope of the sugarcane can t be overlooked by the farming community as it plays a remarkable role in the economic uplift of the growers especially in Central Punjab as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (Pakistan) and thus contributes substantially to Pakistan s economy (Munir et al., 2009). It is a crop of tropics and sub-tropics which is grown predominately between 30 N and 35 S where adequate irrigation facilities are available (Nazir et al., 1998). Sugarcane is grown in 69 countries of the world. About 65-70 % of world s sugars are manufactured from sugarcane and remaining 30-35 % from sugar beet. About 30 % of the cane is crushed in the mills, 60 % is used for making unrefined sugar and the remaining 10 % is retained as seed (Deho et al., 2002). The byproducts of sugarcane helps the mankind through several means including manufacturing of papers, spirit, alcohol, press mud and Gur (Brown sugar). During 2011-12, in Pakistan the area covered under sugarcane cultivation was 1,057.50 thousand hectares, producing 58,396.40 thousand tons with average cane yield of 55.20 tones ha -1. During 2011-12, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), the area under sugarcane was 105.90 thousand hectares producing 4,684.30 tones ha -1 with average cane yield 44. 20t ha -1 (Agri. Statistics of Pak, 2011-12). Sugar yield of Pakistan is around 4 t ha -1 which is very low as compared to the cane growing countries i.e., 47.7 t ha -1 (Khan et al., 2010, Bhadur et al., 2002). Poor yielding varieties and production technologies coupled with semi arid condition are the major causes that hampers sugarcane yield in Pakistan. Sugarcane production could never be enhanced until and unless promising varieties together with suitable technologies are adapted by the growers. These constraints can be resolved by evaluation of local and exotic cane germ plasm to assess the genetic diversity in sugarcane germ plasm. Information about genetic diversity is a prerequisite for any breeding program. Locating new avenues and sources of genetic diversity enable breeders to develop cultivars which can tolerate changing environments, new diseases, pests and climatic conditions. Sufficient genetic diversity enables species to resist diseases and adapt to new climatic conditions. Plant genetic

Muhammad Khalid, et al. Qualitative and quantitative assessment 188 resources of a crop species provide the mankind with raw material for breeding new varieties of crops. These, in turn, provide a basis for more productive and resilient production systems that are better able to cope with biotic and a biotic stresses (Sajid and Khan, 2009). The present study was therefore aimed to evaluate some exotic material of sugarcane and identify promising clones for onward utilization in breeding program. MATERIALS AND METHODS To assess the genetic diversity, a set of 16 promising clones were sown at Sugar Crops Research Institute (SCRI), Mardan, Pakistan, during the spring cropping season of 2010-11. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block (RCB) design with four replications. The plot size was 67 m2 with 10 m length and 6.7 m width and having row to row distance of 90 cm. Double sets, each with three buds were used as sowing material. The clones used in this study were collected from different sugarcane breeding centers with eight clones (MS-91-CP-72, MS- 94- CP-15, MS-91-CP-238, MS-92-CP-979, S-97CP-288, CP-89-831, CP77/400, Mardan-93) from Canal Point (USA), six (MS -99-HO-391, MS-99-HO-317, MS-99-HO-388, MS-99-HO-675, MS-99-HO-93, Hoth-127) from Huma (USA), one (RS -97-N-45) from Natal (Africa) and one (S -96-SP-1215) from Soupalo (Barba dos). The Recommended dose of fertilizer was used (N,- P, and K at 150,-100, and -100 Kg/ha from Urea, DAP and SOP). The data were collected on five quantitative (germination%, number of tillers, plant height, cane yield, and number of millable canes) and four qualitative (C. Brix %, pol %, purity % and cane recovery) attributes. First and second germination% data were recorded, summed and averaged as number of buds germinated per 150 buds of the central row after 30 and 60 days, respectively of sowing. Similarly, the tillering data counted were from the central row with a gap of one month from each other after three months of germination data. Plant height was measured with the help of a meter rod from soil to top at maturity stage. Cane yield was recorded after harvesting of the crop on plot basis and subsequently converted into tones per hectares. Millable cane was counted as number of millable canes (i.e. excluding the tillers which were not developed into mature canes). Brix % is the total soluble solids in cane juice, expressed in percentage. Brix % contains sugar as well as non-sugar substances. It was measured in the cane juice analytical laboratory with the help of hydrometer. Pol % is actually cane sugar present in the juice, expressed in percentage. It was measured by using polarimeter. Purity % was determined with the help of the following relationship following Islam et al., (2011). Sugar recovery was calculated with the help of the following formula following Islam et al., (2011). Sugar recovery (%) = [Pol % 0.5(brix Pol %)] x 0.70 Where S is sucrose in the juice and B is corrected Brix% Data was recorded on five plants, randomly selected within each plot. All the morphological qualitative data were recorded at maturity and only the averaged data was used for analysis. The cane juice quality parameters were evaluated at Sugar Crops Analytical Laboratory (Mardan, Pakistan) from the fresh cane samples after harvesting the crop. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed by using MSTATC package version 1.2 (Freed, 1990). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Germination % Germination % is the most essential physiological phase in the life cycle of a plant as without germination there is no plant. The ANOVA results (Table 1) depicted highly significant differences (p<0.01) among the 16 clones for germination %. These results confirm the diversity among the clones however, due to less adaptability to the environment for this specific attribute all the clones could not exceed performance to check cultivar i.e., Mardan-93. The maximum buds germination (66.17 %) was observed for check clone Mardan-93, followed by MS-92-CP-979 (65.17 %) where as minimum (32.17 %) was exhibited by clone S-96-SP-1215 (Table 2). These results are in good agreement with findings of Nadeem et al., (2011). They reported significant differences for germination % among 16 sugarcane clones.

Sarhad J. Agric. Vol. 30, No. 2, 2014 189 Number of tillers Number of tillers is playing a pivotal role in enhancing the final yield of sugarcane. Highly significant differences (p<0.01) were recorded for number of tillers among the clones used in this study (Table 1). Maximum numbers of tillers (378) were exhibited by the clone MS -91-CP-238 whereas minimum numbers of tillers (128.25) were recorded for clone Hoth127 (Table 2). In this way the clone MS -91-CP-238 performed better than both the check cultivars. Nadeem et al., (2011) used exotic material of sugarcane in a study for assessing the genetic diversity and observed similar significant differences there in. Plant height (cm) Plant height data showed highly significant differences (p<0.01) (Table 1) among the clones, the highest plant height (252.50 cm) being exhibited by the clone MS-99-HO-391 where as the lowest (171.55cm) recorded for the check cultivar Mardan-93 (Table2). Our results are in accordance with the findings of Arain et al., (2011) who observed significant differences for the same trait while evaluating of 11 sugarcane clones for qualitative and quantitative traits under the agro-climatic conditions of Thatta. Cane yield (t ha-1) A perusal of tabulated data indicated that the clones displayed highly significant variations (p<0.01) for cane yield (Table 1). Cane yield for clones ranged between 67.51 and 113.38 t ha-1 with maximum cane yield 113.38 t ha-1 recorded for the clone MS-99-HO-317 being superior to both check cultivars whereas minimum yield 67.51 tons ha- 1 was recorded by the check cultivar Mardan-93 (Table 2). These results are in line with those of Khan et al., (2013) who reported phenotypic as well as genotypic diversity in sugarcane for drought tolerance and sucrose content in 10 elite sugarcane cultivars. Number of millable canes The magnitude of final cane yield is mainly determined by the millable cane count and it has a direct effect on cane yield. Highly significant differences (p<0.01) for number of millable canes were exhibited by the clones used in this study(table 1). Number of millable canes for all clones ranged between 80.5 and 129.25, highest (129.25) being exhibited by MS-99-HO-391 whereas the lowest (80.5) was shown by the check cultivar Mardan -93 (Table 3). These results are in agreement with the findings of Khan et al., (2013) who reported results for 10 elite sugarcane clones while studying phenotypic and genotypic diversity pertaining to drought tolerance and sucrose content. Purity % Juice purity is the main factor that is used in maturity and quality judgment. The analysis of variance displayed significant variations among the clones for purity % (Table 1). These results are identical with the finding of Sajjad and Khan (2009). The highest value for this parameter recorded was 84.97 %, exhibited by the clone MS-99-HO-93 whereas the lowest (79.8 %) was shown by the clone MS -99-HO-388, the latter being lower than both the check cultivars. Sugar recovery Significant differences were recorded among all the clones for recovery as well (Table 1). The highest recovery (12.36) was exhibited by the clone MS-99-HO-93 whereas the lowest (9.89) was observed for the clone MS-99-HO- 388 (Table 3). Similar results were also reported by ea rlier researchers (Sarwar et al., 2011). They evaluated six approved sugarcane varieties for their juice quality, milling and processing parameters such as CCS % (commercial cane sugar), juice extraction %, pol extraction %, BHR % (boiling house recovery), overall re covery % and sugar recovery %, using hydraulic press at 1400 bars pressure. C. Brix % and Pol % Both are important qualitative parameters used for maturity judgment. The second important qualitative parameters after C. brix % is pol % of cane juice. The perusal of data in table 1 showed non-significant differences among the clones for C. brix % and pol %. The lowest C. brix % (19.74) was recorded for MS -94-CP-15 whereas highest (20.90) was displayed by Mardan-93 (Table 3). Similarly maximum pol % of 17.68 was exhibited by Mardan-93 and MS-99-HO-675 whereas the minimum pol % of 16.07 was displayed by MS-94-CP-15 (Table 3). The check

Muhammad Khalid, et al. Qualitative and quantitative assessment 190 cultivar displayed good performance for C. brix % and pol %. These results are in contrary with the findings of Panhwar et al.,(2004). This may be due to the uniform expression of genes for these attributes. Table 1. Mean squares for germination%, number of tillers, plant height, cane yield, number of millable cane, c. brix%, pol%, purity% and sugar recovery for 16 sugarcane clones evaluated at SCRI, Mardan during 2010-11. SOV D.F Germination No. of Plant Cane No. of C. Pol Purity Sugar % tillers height yield millable Brix % % Recovery cane % Reps 3 352.89 Ns 267.307 Ns 182.54 Ns 185.519** 1626.76** 0.969* 5.152** 49.13** 4.156** Clones 15 920.08** 13254.97** 1481.69** 345.136** 646.53** 0.427 Ns 1.381 Ns 12.59* 1.059* Error 45 302.81 425.81 368.86 1843.47 151.11 0.335 0.766 5.36 0.543 C.V% 21.55 9.17 9.40 7.55 11.70 2.82 5.16 2.80 6.94 LSD 0.05 20.24 25.60 31.60 11.49 24 1.18 1.79 4.73 1.51 *,**, = Significant, highly significant and non-significant at1% and 5% level of probability, respectively. ns = Non-significant Table 2. Means for germination %, number of tillers, plant height, cane yield and millable cane for 16 sugarcane clones evaluated at SCRI, Mardan during 2010-11. S.# Clones Germ% No. of tillers P. height (cm) C. Y (t ha -1 ) No. of m. cane 1 MS-91-CP-272 59.83 bac 243.00 b 208.05 becd 82.99 cb 102 ebdc 2 MS-94-CP-15 54.83 bac 252 cb 221.80 ba 86.37 b 91.50 edc 3 MS-91-CP-238 62.33 bac 378 a 180.15 ed 86.22 b 119.75 ba 4 MS-92-CP-979 65.17 ba 248 b 208.80 bcd 81.64 cb 111.50 ba 5 MS-99-HO-391 64.67 bac 167 f 252.50 a 85.57 cb 129.25 a 6 S-97CP-288 36.33de 172 f 207.75 becd 80.30 cb 113.25 bac 7 MS-99-HO-317 59.50 bac 268.50 b 194.90 becd 113.38 a 119 ba 8 RS-97-N-45 61.17 bac 224.25 ced 200.45 becd 88.81 cb 100.75 ebdc 9 MS-99-HO-388 54.50 bdac 223 e 198.55 becd 80.75 cb 103.25 ebdc 10 MS-99-HO-675 52.00 bdc 238 ced 202.45 becd 85.92 b 101.25 ebdc 11 MS-99-HO-93 46.50 bdc 238.25 cbd 187.55 ecd 85.67 cb 99.50 ebdc 12 S-96-SP-1215 32.17 e 144.75 g 208.20 becd 74.43 cb 85.50 ed 13 Hoth-127 52.17 bdac 128.25 g 223.40 ba 83.33 cb 112 bac 14 CP-89-831 49.00 bdc 214.75 ed 215.10 bc 87.06 b 109.75 bdac 15 CP77/400 (Check clone-i) 44.83 dec 218.75 ced 186.75 ecd 84.98 cb 103 ebdaac 16 Mardan-93(Check clone-ii) 66.17 a 243.25 d 171.55 e 67.51 d 80.50 e Germ %= Germination %, No. of tillers= Number of tillers, P. height= Plant height, C. Y= Cane yield, No. of m. cane= Number of millable cane. Letter do not differ significantly using LSD at 0.05 probability level. Table 3. Means for C. brix %, pol %, purity % and cane recovery for 16 sugarcane clones evaluated at SCRI, Mardan during 2010-11. S. # Clones C. Brix % Pol % Purity% Sugar Recovery 1 MS-91-CP-272 20.40 16.87 82.68 ba 10.57 bdae 2 MS-94-CP-15 19.74 16.07 81.26 ba 9.97 de 3 MS-91-CP-238 20.24 16.19 79.80 b 9.92 e 4 MS-92-CP-979 20.24 16.20 80.07 b 9.93 de 5 MS-99-HO-391 20.57 16.89 82.13 ba 10.54 bdae 6 S-97CP-288 20.07 16.24 80.90 ba 10.03 bde 7 MS-99-HO-317 20.57 17.24 83.60 ba 10.90 bdac 8 RS-97-N-45 20.74 17.38 83.78 ba 10.99 bdac 9 MS-99-HO-388 20.24 16.16 79.76 b 9.89bde 10 MS-99-HO-675 20.90 17.16 82.14 ba 10.71 bdac 11 MS-99-HO-93 20.74 17.63 84.97 a 11.25 a 12 S-96-SP-1215 20.57 17.09 83 ba 10.74bde 13 Hoth-127 20.74 17.34 83.59 ba 10.95bdac 14 CP-89-831 20.74 17.59 84.82 a 11.22 ba 15 CP77/400 (Check clone-i) 20.74 17.45 84.07 ba 11.06 bac 16 Mardan-93 (Check clone-ii) 20.90 17.68 84.47 ba 11.24 ba Means in the same column followed by similar. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Sarhad J. Agric. Vol. 30, No. 2, 2014 191 Poor yielding varieties and production technologies coupled with semi arid condition are the major causes that hampers sugarcane yield in Pakistan. Sugarcane production could never be enhanced until and unless promising varieties together with suitable technologies are adopted by the growers (). On the basis of overall perf ormance, it was concluded that check clone-ii exhibited outstanding performance regarding germination %, the clone MS-91- CP-238 produced highest number of tiller, the clone MS-99-HO-391 was the tallest clone and the clones MS-99- HO-317, RS-97-N-45, MS-99-HO-391, MS-99-HO-93 and CP-89-831 exhibited better performance in terms of cane yield, number of millable canes and sugar recovery. The clones used in present studies were of diverse nature and produced more yield than clones used by Nadeem et al., (2011). These clones should be put in further evaluation trials and should advance to uniform yield trials. Similarly, it is suggested that the poor performed sugarcane clones should be further tested under potential areas as two years screening is not sufficient to judge the performance of these clones and on the basis of that performance these clones should be utilized in future crop breeding program. REFERENCES Agri. Statistics of Pakistan. 2011-12. Govt. of Pakistan. Ministry of National Food Security and Research (Economic Wing), Islamabad. Arain, M. Y., R. N. Panhwar, N. Gujar, M. Chohan, M. A. Rajput, A. F. Soomro and S. Junejo. 2011. Evaluation of new candidate sugarcane varieties for some qualitative and quantitative traits under Thatta agro-climatic conditions. The J. Animal Plant Sci. 21(2): 226-230. Bahadar, K., M. Jamal, M. Sadiq, M. Suleman, H. Azim and M. S. Baloch. 2002. Genetic variation and ecological suitability of new sugarcane genotypes under the agro- ecological climatic conditions of Bannu (KPK). Pak. Sugar J. 12(03): 15-17. Deho, N. A., H. I. Majeedano, S. D. Tunio, and A. D. Jarwar. 2002. Effect of mulching methods on weed management, growth and yield of sugarfane. Pak. Sugar J. 12 (1): 11-15. Freed R. D. 1990. MSTATC Ver. 1.2. Michigan State. Univ., Michigan, USA. Islam, M.S., M.A.S. Miah, M.K. Begum, M.R. Alam and M.S. Arefin. 2011. Growth, yield and juice quality of some selected sugarcane clones under, water-logging stress condition. World J. of Agric. Sci. 7 (4): 504-509 Khan, I. A., S. Bibi, S. Yasmin, A. Khatri and N. Seema. 2013. Phenotypic and genotypic diversity investigations in sugarcane for drought tolerance and sucrose content. Pak. J. Bot. 45(2): 359-366. Khan, I. A., S. Bibi, S. Yasmin, A. Khatri, N. Seema and S. A. Abro. 2012. Correlation studies of agronomic traits for higher sugar yield in sugarcane. Pak. J. Bot. 44(3): 969-971. Khan, I.A., S. Bibi, S. Yasmin, A. Khatri, N. Seema and S. Afghan. 2010. Study of genetic variability in mutated population of sugarcane clone NIA-98 through molecular markers (RAPD and TRAP). Pak. J. Bot. 42(1): 605-614. Munir, M. A., M. Zafar, M. Ysin, J. Iqbal and M. S. Cheema. 2009. Qualitative and quantitative characteristics of some autumn sown promising sugarcane varieties. Pak. Sugar J. 24 (04): 8-11. Nadeem, M. A., M. A. Sarwar, A. Ghaffar, F. Ahmad and F. Hussain. 2011. Studies on the performance of some sugarcane genotypes at Faisalabad. Pak. Sugar J. 26(1): 14-18. Nazir, M. S., M. S. A. Bazmi, M. Saeed, A. Ghaffar and R. Ahmad.1998. Ratooning potential of diverse sugarcane genotypes. Pak. Sugar J. 13(04): 10-12. Panhwar, R. N., H. K. Keerio and A. R. Keerio. 2004. Evaluation of sugarcane genotypes for yield and yield contributing traits under thatta conditions. Pak. J. Agric. Res. 18 (1): 34-36. Sajjad. M., and F. A. Khan. 2009. Genetic Diversity among Sugarcane Cultivars in Pakistan. American-Eurasian J. Agric. and Environ. Sci. 6 (6): 730-736. Sarwar, M.A., S. Ahmad, N. Fiaz, F. Hussain and A. A. Chattha. 2011. Evaluation of approved sugarcane varieties through hydraulic press method. Int. J. Agric. Appl. Sci. 3(1): 14-17.