ICAR finds new varieties of sugarcane

These new varieties of sugarcane are tolerant to waterlogging, drought and salinity. reports Aloke Tikku.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has identified new varieties of sugarcane tolerant to waterlogging, drought and salinity.

The peninsular zone comprises the plateau region of Tamil Nadu, interior Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, ICAR said in a release.

Sugarcane cultivation covers 3.66 million hectare of land, nearly 2 million hectares in Uttar Pradesh.

Production per hectare is, however, highest in Tamil Nadu followed by Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra.

The sugarcane variety—Co 99006 (Neeraj)—has tolerance to water-logging, drought and salinity and has an average cane yield of 111.48 tonne per hectare with 20.48 per cent sucrose and 16.14 tonnes per hectare of commercial cane sugar, an ICAR spokesman said.

The other variety—Co 99004 (Damodar)—has resistance to drought and salinity and has an average cane yield of 116.69 tonnes per hectare with 18.76 per cent sucrose and 16.83 tonnes per hectare of commercial cane sugar.

While the variety, Neeraj, is suitable for normal cultural condition, the other variety is fit for normal irrigated condition.

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