Evaluation of Various Sugarcane Genotypes for Association of Quality Characters with Cane Yield

The present investigation was carried out to study the association of quality traits with cane yield to establish an appropriate selection strategy based on quality characters. Sixteen sugarcane genotypes comprising two check cultivars were assessed during 2012-15 using RCB design with three replications. Data were collected on brix (%), polarized sugar (%), purity (%), sugar recovery (%) and cane yield (t ha-1). Analysis of variance exhibited highly significant differences between crops for all parameters except brix (%). Among the genotypes highly significant differences were observed for brix (%), polarized sugar (%) and cane yield (t ha-1). Crops × genotypes revealed highly significant differences for cane yield (t ha-1). Genotypes MS-92-CP-99 (72.92 t ha-1), MS-2000-Ho-360 (72.13 t ha-1), MS-2003-HS-274 (72.04 t ha-1) and MS-91-CP-523(71.58 t ha-1) showed superiority regarding cane yield. Positive phenotypic and genotypic correlations were observed for all the traits with cane yield (t/ha) except purity %. Brix % and polarized sugar % showed highly significant and positive correlation with sugar recovery % at genotypic (0.66**, 0.74**) and phenotypic (0.67**, 0.79**) levels. Brix % showed highly significant correlation with polarized sugar (%) at genotypic (1.00**) and phenotypic (0.95**) level. Path analysis showed that highest positive direct effect on cane yield (t ha-1) is exerted by sugar recovery % at genotypic (0.42) and phenotypic (1.94) level showing its importance in clonal selection program for evolving improved sugarcane genotypes. It is suggested that the quality parameters should be taken in to consideration in clonal selection program for evolving improved sugarcane genotypes. Moreover, the genotypes with high cane yield and sugar recovery should be evaluated further.