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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Canal Point, Florida » Sugarcane Field Station » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #177918
Title: REGISTRATION OF 'CP 97-1944' SUGARCANE

Author
item Comstock, Jack
item Glaz, Barry
item Edme, Serge
item GILBERT, ROBERT - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item MILLER, JIMMY - RETIRED ARS SCIENTIST
item TAI, PETER - RETIRED ARS SCIENTIST
item DUNCKELMAN, JOHN - FLORIDA SUGARCANE LEAGUE
item DAVIDSON, JOSEPH - FLORIDA SUGARCANE LEAGUE

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Germplasm Release
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/28/2005
Publication Date: 11/1/2005
Citation: Comstock, J.C., Glaz, B.S., Edme, S.J., Gilbert, R.A., Miller, J.D., Tai, P.Y., Dunckelman, J.W., Davidson, J.O. Registration of 'cp 97-1944' sugarcane. Crop Science. 45:2659-2660. 2005.

Interpretive Summary: Sugarcane is grown on organic and sand soils in the Lake Okeechobee area of south Florida. This region contributes about 25% of U.S. domestic sugar production. New cultivars that yield well on both soil types are needed, but only rarely are such cultivars identified. Experimental data of CP 97-1944 suggest that it may be one of these unique cultivars. On organic soils, the cane yield of CP 97-1944 was 1.8% higher than that of the commercial reference cultivar, CP 70-1133. In addition, its sugar content was 6.4% higher than that of CP 70-1133. Its high cane and sugar content resulted in a sugar per hectare yield and an economic index on organic soils that were 8.2 and 15.4% higher, respectively, for CP 97-1944 than for CP 70-1133. On sand soils, the cane yield of CP 97-1944 was 5.4% lower than that of CP 70-1133, but the sugar content of CP 97-1944 was 8.4% higher than that of CP 70-1133. The high cane and sugar content resulted in a sugar per hectare yield and an economic index on sand soils that were, respectively, 1.7 and 8.8% higher for CP 97-1944 than for CP 70-1133. Cultivar resistance and tolerance are the major sources of sugarcane disease control. Complete resistance is difficult to identify and quantify because, as a plant is exposed to various disease pressures all year, new races of pathogens emerge to counteract the plant’s defense. CP 97-1944 has shown adequate resistance for commercial production in Florida to eye spot, rust, smut, and sugarcane mosaic virus. CP 97-1944 is susceptible to leaf scald, sugarcane yellow leaf virus, and is moderately susceptible to ratoon stunting disease. Its high yields in experimental plots were obtained regardless of these susceptibilities. The commercial release of CP 97-1944 makes available to Florida growers a cultivar that maintains high yields in the presence of diseases, and therefore should help to continue providing the U.S. an affordable and stable sugar supply. Additionally, CP 97-1944 will be tested extensively by sugarcane farmers in Central America, who grow mostly “CP” cultivars.

Technical Abstract: Sugarcane grown in a concentrated region near Lake Okeechobee in Florida produces 25% of the sugar produced in the U.S. The development of a constant supply of new sugarcane cultivars is critical for growers to respond to economic, pathological, and ecological pressures. The purpose of this research was to test yields, cold tolerance, and disease resistance of 15 new sugarcane genotypes that have reached the final stage of the Canal Point cultivar development program. These genotypes, along with the commercial reference standard, CP 70-1133, were evaluated in the plant-cane, first-ratoon, and second-ratoon crops in commercial fields at 10 commercial sugarcane sites in Florida. CP 97-1944, an outstanding genotype in these tests, was selected from progeny of a polycross with ‘CP 80-1743’ as the female parent. CP 80-1743 has been the most widely grown sugarcane cultivar in Florida since 1999. CP 97-1944 was developed through cooperative research by the USDA-ARS, the University of Florida-Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, and the Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc., and was released in the autumn of 2004. The mean stalk weights of CP 97-1944 and CP 70-1133, the commercial reference cultivar, were 1.2 and 1.5 kg, respectively. Yields of theoretical recoverable sugar and cane for CP 97-1944 were 125.0 g sugar per kg cane and 147.6 tons cane per ha, respectively, and 117.4 g per kg and 145.5 tons per ha, respectively, for CP 70-1133. This resulted in mean yields of 18.5 and 17.1 tons of sugar per ha for CP 97-1944 and CP 70-1133, respectively. CP 97-1944 has shown adequate resistance to all major diseases in Florida except to leaf scald, sugarcane yellow leaf virus, and ratoon stunting disease. Among 17 genotypes tested, including cultivars CP 72-2086 and CP 70-1133, CP 97-1944 had the highest ranking for cold tolerance. Based on its high sugar and tonnage yields in the presence of diseases prevalent in Florida, CP 97-1944 may make a substantial commercial contribution to sugarcane production in Florida.