Field evaluation of the potential of drought-tolerant sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) mutants based on morpho-agronomic characters

Abstract

Abstract A mutation scheme followed by an in-vitro selection is one of the breeding tools for developing drought-tolerant sugarcane varieties. This study aimed to select the drought-tolerant sugarcane mutants. Twenty-seven mutant genotypes that passed the in-vitro selection for drought-tolerant and a Bululawang variety as control were examined in this study. The field evaluation was done in Asembagus, Situbondo, East Java, from January 2019 to December 2020. The four-month-old plants were exposed to drought conditions for two months period. The experiment used a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The observations were made on morpho-agronomic parameters such as a leaf, leaf sheath, internode, stem, bud characters, stem length, diameter, stem weight, internode’s number and length, yield, and Brix. Results showed that three mutant genotypes performed better under simulated drought stress than the BL variety with higher yield potential (> 125 ton ha−1). These mutants differed from their original cultivar in the leaf sheath, internode, stem, and bud, hairy, and adherence-leaf sheath characters. Shortly, further evaluation of agronomical performances will be made on the first and second ratoon.