PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SUGARCANE CLONES AT PRELIMINARY YIELD TRIAL

In the current study, fifteen (15) sugarcane clones developed from Sri Lanka and Barbados fuzz were evaluated for quantitative and qualitative traits in local set of climatic conditions. After testing and advancement from early stages of sugarcane cultivar development program, these clones were planted in 4th stage i.e. preliminary yield trial to evaluate the performance of clones in comparison to two local check varieties viz. CPF 253 and HSF 240. The testing sugarcane clones along with check varieties were planted in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) deploying three replications during the crop season 2022-23. Biometric parameters like germination (%), plant population, plant height, 10-cane weight, cane weight and cane yield alongwith sugar recovery were studied. The biometric traits were compared using two-sided Dunnett's multiple to check the level of significance. The results showed high level of significance for all the biometric traits. The clone BDF-20-174 showed superior performance for plant population, cane yield and sugar recovery as compared to local check varieties. Similarly some other clones surpass the check varieties in some traits but their overall performance remained at par or lower than check varieties. However, further testing and experimentation will be applied to pick more adapted and suitable clones for local agro-ecological conditions