Parental potential of sugarcane clones for drought resistance breeding

In order to identify parents for drought resistance breeding, performance of 645 Co selections derived from sixteen parents grown under water deficit conditions was assessed for thirteen characters governing early growth at 150 days and cane yield and juice quality at 360 days after planting at Coimbatore (India). Maximum survival under drought was observed in the derivatives of Co 449, while Co 312 and Co 6304 produced more selections with early vigour. However, at 360 days, a distinct superiority of the parents Co 7201 and CoC 671 was observed for cane yield parameters, while the derivatives of Co 312, Co 421, Co449 and Co 1158 were inferior. CoC671 and Co 740 with better mean performance of juice quality traits would serve as useful parents for quality improvement under drought situations. Significantly better performance of derivatives of CoC 671, both for cane yield and juice quality, revealed the high parental value of this clone. Co 740, Co 775, Co 6304, Co 6806, Co 7201 and Co 775 were the other useful parents. Utilization of these potential parents in breeding could lead to evolving drought resistant varieties for improving sugarcane productivity in the drought prone regions of India.