Effects of Planting Pre-Germinated Buds on Stand Establishment in Sugarcane

Abstract

Sugarcane (a complex hybrid of Saccharum spp.) is propagated vegetatively by using stem pieces of mature cane with healthy buds. Abiotic and biotic stress may cause pre-germination of these buds, which may have an impact on both emergence and plant cane stand establishment. There is very limited information available in the literature. A greenhouse study was conducted with single-budded seed pieces of three levels of bud germination (ungerminated buds, Pop-eyes, and Lalas) from three different cultivars (CP 96-1252, CPCL 05-1201, and CPCL 02-0926) planted in pots and repeated over time. Data on growth parameters (tiller count, primary shoot height, SPAD, and dry biomass of shoots and roots) at early growth showed that Lalas produced more tillers and higher shoot dry biomass than Pop-eyes and ungerminated buds. Both Lalas and Pop-eyes produced higher root dry biomass than ungerminated buds in one of the two experiments. The cultivar had a significant effect on primary shoot height and SPAD. A small plot field experiment was conducted with cultivar CP 96-1252 to validate the results of greenhouse experiments, and similar results were reported for tiller count. The results indicate that pre-germinated buds may have a neutral or positive effect on early sugarcane growth and establishment. Further on-farm research needs to be conducted to confirm these results before using pre-germinated buds as a potential seed source for the late season planting of sugarcane.