History and Current Status of Sugarcane Breeding, Germplasm Development and Molecular Biology in India

Sugarcane cultivation in India dates back to 5000 BC, but its genetic improvement through breeding commenced only in the nineteenth century. A major breakthrough in yield improvement happened in 1918 with the release of the first interspecific hybrid cultivar Co 205. This cultivar replaced all earlier varieties and made interspecific hybrids the basis of future sugarcane improvement. The tri-specific hybrids {(S. officinarum × S. spontaneum) × S. barberi} developed at Indian Council of Agriculture Research-Sugarcane Breeding Institute (ICAR-SBI) as Coimbatore canes (Co canes) were popular in India and in several other countries as varieties or parents. Improved sugarcane varieties have made a major contribution in increasing yield from 30.9 t/ha in 1930 to 79.6 t/ha during 2018–2019 and sugar recovery from 8.96% to 11.01% in the same period. A national network of sugarcane varietal improvement programme involving 24 sugarcane centres covering the entire country now operates. This program is based on seedlings derived from an annual crossing program at the National Hybridization Garden at ICAR-SBI, Coimbatore. Varietal testing is conducted by 36 centres and has identified 124 varieties through All India Coordinated Research Programme (Sugarcane) for five agroclimatic zones in the country since 1982. During 2000 to 2019, 67 varieties were released for commercial cultivation. Among the present varieties, Co 0238, cultivated on 2.77 Mha, and Co 86032, on 0.89 Mha are the two predominant varieties in India. The pace of varietal improvement has remained high through studies on breeding and selection methodologies, expanding the genetic base and genetic diversity of parental pools for nuclear and cytoplasmic genes and targeted genetic improvement of important traits. This has improved precision and efficiency of breeding. Micropropagation has been a success for rapid multiplication and accelerated adoption of new varieties. Genetic improvement of sugarcane through conventional breeding is increasingly complemented by molecular research to improve biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, specifically for red rot and drought, and biomass, to make sugarcane a major source of both a sugar and renewable energy.