Direct transplanting of seedlings: Strategy for reducing costs and shortening the selection cycle
| MSI03P3927 | |
| Ramdoyal, K. Mungur, H. Santchurn, D. D. | |
| Direct transplanting of seedlings: Strategy for reducing costs and shortening the selection cycle | |
| 7th ISSCT Breeding and Germplasm workshop, 5-9 May 2003. Abstract book | |
| book chapter | |
| 2003 | |
| p. 45-46 | |
| Réduit, Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute | |
| En | |
| At the Mauritius Sugar industry Research Institute (MSIRI), 100 000 seedlings are produced annually to start a new selection cycle. The current practice is to sow in seedling trays in September/October, transfer the seedlings individually in plastic pots and transplant them manually in fields at a spacing of 0.60 m x 1.50 m, in March of the following year. Selection is done in April on a crop aged 13 months after field transplanting or 18 months after sowing. In the context of a reduced labour force and other resources, new selection strategies are being investigated to bring down costs of production of varieties. A trial was laid down to study the technical feasibility of transplanting seedlings directly in the field, to assess savings on resources and the impact on the selection cycle. Seeds of five families were sown in August and were transplanted, in November of the same year, on raised beds (8 m x 1 m) at three different spacing in a split plot design, with spacing as the main plot. The treatments were: (1) three rows per bed with 0.40 m between rows x 0.30 m within rows, (2) three rows with 0.40 m between x 0.40 m within rows, (3) two rows at 0.40 m between x 0.40 m within rows at population densities of 84, 60 and 40 seedlings per bed for the three treatments respectively. Mortality rate was recorded three times at monthly interval and at selection time. Stalk height, stalk diameter, stalk number and selection rates were assessed in September (nine months) when selection was performed. Mortality rate was highest in the closest spacing (27 percent). Differences between treatments were not significant for cane diameter, stalk height and stalk number, although diameter and stalk number were slightly higher in the lowest density planting. Families differed significantly for mortality rate and the agronomic characters. No spacing x family interactions were detected for mortality rate or any of the characters measured. Selection rate, based on visual assessment and the availability of planting materials to establish the first clonal stage (2m-plots), was not significantly different for the treatments and averaged 30 percent. However selection rate varied significantly between families. | |
| Sugarcane Breeding selection strategies Selection cycle Spacing Cost reduction | |
| Mauritius | |
| Cane breeding and genetic improvement | |
| Selection: Policies and methods | |
| 2003-06-17 | |
| LISt | |
| PB |