Sugarcane Varietal Development Programmes in India: An Overview

Sugarcane breeding in India is almost a century old. The first interspecific cross between S.officinarum × S.spontaneum was made in 1912 at Sugarcane Breeding Institute (SBI), Coimbatore and Co 205, one of the resultant hybrids was released for cultivation in 1918 marking the beginning of the sugarcane varietal improvement programmes in the country based on interspecific hybridization, back crossing of the hybrids to S.officinarum followed by intercrossing of the back cross derivatives. Apart from SBI, 23 state research stations also contribute to the sugarcane varietal development in the country. The current breeding strategy is that of a centralized hybridization programme at Coimbatore followed by progeny evaluation and selection at the 23 research stations located across the country to identify improved location-specific varieties. Consequently the varieties bred by SBI and the associate centres occupy over 90% of the cane area in the country.