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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Canal Point, Florida » Sugarcane Field Station » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #352452
Title: Development of orange rust resistant sugarcane cultivars in Florida

Author
item Sood, Sushma
item DAVIDSON, WAYNE - Florida Sugarcane League
item COMSTOCK, JACK - Former ARS Employee
item ROTT, PHILIPE - University Of Florida
item Zhao, Duli

Submitted to: American Society of Sugar Cane Technologists
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/19/2018
Publication Date: 4/30/2018
Citation: Sood, S.G., Davidson, W.R., Comstock, J.C., Rott, P., Zhao, D. 2018. Development of orange rust resistant sugarcane cultivars in Florida. Journal of American Society of Sugar Cane Technologists. 38,2018 pg. 50.

Interpretive Summary: N/A

Technical Abstract: Orange rust of sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrids), caused by Puccinia kuehnii (W. Krüger) E.J. Butler, was reported for the first time in the Western Hemisphere in 2007 and the majority of commercial cultivars grown in Florida showed disease symptoms. Highly susceptible cultivars such as CP80-1743, CP88-1762 and CP89-2143 had to be eliminated or their acreage drastically reduced. Up to 40% reduction in yields were reported in susceptible sugarcane clones. Sugarcane growers were able to limit yield losses caused by orange rust by using chemical control and growing cultivars with acceptable levels of disease resistance. The Canal Point (CP) breeding program took several steps to combat this new threat to sugarcane production. Many promising high yielding varieties of the breeding program and several parents were discarded because of their susceptibility to orange rust. Intensified orange rust screening at all stages of the selection process and restricted advancement of susceptible clones were adopted. These strategies helped to increase the number of resistant clones in all stages and especially in the later stages of the cultivar development program. The CP breeding program has made significant progress in development of resistant cultivars since the appearance of orange rust in Florida. Several clones with adequate orange rust resistance have recently been released for sugarcane production.