Contribution of variety Co 1148 in the development of sugarcane varieties for cultivation in Uttar Pradesh

Variety Co 1148 - a selection from 'Co Canes' introduced by Sugarcane Research Institute, Shahjahanpurfrom Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore was released in 1962 for cultivation in Uttar Pradesh. This wonder variety served the sugar industry of state for about thirty years as a ruling variety of sub-tropical belt including Punjab, Haryana and north west zone of Uttar Pradesh. Besides sustaining and increasing productivity of cane and sugar, Co 1148 had also played a significant role in the development of promising varieties through cross breeding. So far, 31 promising sugarcane varieties viz., CoS 730, 758, 797, 7918, 8315, 8407, 8408,8422,8432,8436, 8009, 85223, CoLK 8001, CoS 8439, 87220, 88216, 88230, 90265, 90269, 87231, 87222, 91230, 91248, CoSe 91423, CoS87216, CoSe 93232, 94423, 91232, 93234, CoSe 95427 and Co Pant 84212 have already been released for cultivation in State by using Co 1148 as parent in hybridization programme. Out of these a number of varieties including CoS 758, 7918, 8407, 8432, 8436, 88230, 88216, 90269 have served the sugar industry for more than a decade. In addition to this, a number of promising selections having Co 1148 in their parentage are under different stages of varietal development programme. The contribution of Co 1148 as commercial cultivar as well as parent in varietal improvement programme ofthe State particularly of U.P. Council of Sugarcane Research, Shahjahanpur has been discussed in the present article.