Sugarcane
Sugarcane comprises cultivated Saccharum grasses grown chiefly for the sucrose accumulated in their stems. It is a tropical and subtropical crop using the C4 photosynthetic pathway. Modern commercial varieties have complex hybrid ancestry, notably involving Saccharum officinarum and the wild species Saccharum spontaneum.[1]
Cultivation and breeding
Cultivated cane is commonly propagated vegetatively. Breeding combines high sugar content with useful characteristics such as vigour and resistance to environmental stresses. Its unusually complex chromosome complements, including polyploidy and aneuploidy, make the relationship between ancestry and individual traits difficult to analyse. Cultivated forms also have a long history of movement and selection following domestication in the New Guinea region.[1]
Sugar production is the crop's principal use, but the fibrous residue left after juice extraction, bagasse, can supply fuel. Its value as a crop therefore involves both the sugar in the stalk and the uses of the remaining biomass.[1]
Ratoon crops
After harvest, buds in the remaining stubble can produce another crop. This regrowth is called ratooning. It allows successive harvests without planting a new stand each time. Established roots support early growth, while avoiding repeated planting can reduce production costs. Cut stalks require prompt processing because their sugar composition changes after harvest.[2]
The productivity of successive ratoon crops depends on the variety, environment, cultivation and harvesting practices. Yield commonly declines as a stand ages, but the rate varies. Cold, drought, pests and diseases can impair regrowth. Breeders therefore assess the ability to maintain useful yields over successive harvests, rather than judging a variety only by the performance of its first crop.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 K. S. Dinesh Babu and colleagues (2022). A short review on sugarcane: its domestication, molecular manipulations and future perspectives. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Fu Xu and colleagues (2021). Sugarcane Ratooning Ability: Research Status, Shortcomings, and Prospects. Biology 10:1052.
Attribution
Adapted with reference to English Wikipedia, revision 1380976450 (contributors and history), under CC BY-SA 4.0. The prose has been rewritten and checked against the cited sources; changes have been made.