Breeding and selection for high early season sugar content in a sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrids) improvement program

Abstract

A recurrent selection program for high early season commercial cane sugar (CCS) in sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrids) commenced in 1988. About 20 families (first clonal stage) and their parents are grown in two regions each year. Elite clones with high early CCS are selected and these are recycled into the breeding population with a short generation interval. Estimates of narrow-sense heritability from midparent-offspring regressions were moderate to high (0.6 or greater). Thus breeding for this trait using a large database of information available on early CCS characteristics of parental clones should be effective. Additive genetic variance (=2A) was more important than non-additive genetic variance.