Comparative analysis of commercial productivity of new and older sugarcane varieties in Mauritius
| MSI09P4446 | |
| Ramdoyal, K. Santchurn, D. Badaloo, G. Bissessur, D. | |
| Comparative analysis of commercial productivity of new and older sugarcane varieties in Mauritius | |
| (Programme and Abstracts). 9th ISSCT Breeding and Germplasm workshop "Sugarcane Crop Improvement: Opportunities and Challenges", 17-21 August, 2009, Cairns, Australia | |
| book chapter | |
| 2009 | |
| p. 43 | |
| En | |
| EN | |
| Plant breeders often are concerned about the commercial performance of their newly released varieties relative to the older ones being replaced. Such a comparison is often difficult unless reliable and comparable commercial data are available. A method is proposed that compares the productivity of released-recently varieties with that of older varieties for large estate plantations in Mauritius. As a new variety takes on average five years to be grown to a significant area, and for sufficient data is available, new varieties were considered as those released after 1995. Cane yield data from 2001 to 2006 were retrieved from the MSIRI Land Index database, which stores field and harvest data for miller- and corporate-planters. The field data includes information on the estate, section, field number, area planted, date planted, soil type, rainfall, elevation, and variety, whereas the harvest data includes information on variety, area, crop cycle, date of harvest, and agronomic data such as cane yield, quality traits, etc .. Complete information on fields that were harvested mechanically was not available and this was confounded in the analyses. Comparison of old and new varieties was standardised for all factors, Le., within soil type, planting season, crop cycle, harvest period, and irrigation regime. Yield difference between new and old varieties over similar conditions was averaged for a global view of progress. For the majority of estates, new varieties out-performed the older ones. However, instances occurred where older varieties have outperformed the new ones, that could be attributed to the performance of one variety, M 695/69 (release year 1988), that maintained high yields across the estates. If this variety is excluded, average yield differences favoured new varieties. Similarly the frequency of new varieties out-performing older ones increased markedly. Specific comparisons between individual varieties that occupy a significant area within their respective harvest periods and adaptation zone also revealed the superiority of the new varieties. Hence M 1400/86 (2000) and M 1176/77 (1996) that have laryely replaced R 570 (1985) in the free and rocky soils have out yielded R 570 by 8 - 12 t ha- . This superiority was maintained across ratoon crops. Similarly, R 579 (2000) outperformed R 570. In the superhumid zone, M 1400/86, M 1394/86 (2000), and M 387/85 (1999) out-performed the formerly widely-grown M 3035/66 (1984). However, in specific areas, weaknesses of new varieties also were evident. Among the early-ripening varieties, M 703/89 (2004) confirmed its superiority over M 52/78 (1994) in the very humid zone, and R 573 (1998) either equal or exceeded M 52/78. The methodology proved practical for an overview of the performance of newly released varieties compared to older ones | |
| sugarcane varieties productivity yields breeding land index database yield decline | |
| Mauritius | |
| Cane breeding and Genetics | |
| Commercial varieties | |
| 2009-12-21 | |
| En | |
| PB |