TOLERANCE SCREENING IN SUGARCANE CLONES FOR SOIL MOISTURE STRESS / DROUGHT CONDITIONS

CH. MUKUNDA RAO¹*, P.S. RAO², M. CHARUMATHI³, D. ADILAKSHMI⁴, T. CHITKALA DEVI⁵, M. BHARATHALAKSHMI⁶, P.V.K. JAGANNADHA RAO^7
1Department of Crop Physiology, Regional Agriculture Research Station, Anakapalle, 531001, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Lam, 522034, Andhra Pradesh, India
²Department of Crop Physiology, Regional Agriculture Research Station, Anakapalle, 531001, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Lam, 522034, Andhra Pradesh, India
³Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Regional Agriculture Research Station, Anakapalle, 531001, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Lam, 522034, Andhra Pradesh, India
⁴Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Regional Agriculture Research Station, Anakapalle, 531001, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Lam, 522034, Andhra Pradesh, India
⁵Department of Agronomy, Regional Agriculture Research Station, Anakapalle, 531001, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Lam, 522034, Andhra Pradesh, India
⁶Department of Agronomy, Regional Agriculture Research Station, Anakapalle, 531001, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Lam, 522034, Andhra Pradesh, India
⁷Department of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology, Regional Agriculture Research Station, Anakapalle, 531001, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Lam, 522034, India
* Corresponding Author : cmukundarao@yahoo.co.in

Received : 24-05-2023     Accepted : 28-06-2023     Published : 30-06-2023
Volume : 15     Issue : 6       Pages : 12445 - 12450
Int J Agr Sci 15.6 (2023):12445-12450

Keywords : Moisture stress, Chlorophyll Stability Index, SPAD/SCMR, Leaf proline, Cane yield, Membrane injury index, Percent juice sucrose, Root spread area
Academic Editor : Dr Nongthombam Surbala Devi, K. R.Tagore, Dr I.V.Y Rama Rao
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : Authors are thankful to Regional Agriculture Research Station, Anakapalle, 531001, Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Lam, 522034, Andhra Pradesh, India
Author Contribution : All authors equally contributed

Fifteen prerelease sugarcane clones were tested against sugarcane varieties 87A 298 and 83V 15 as checks for their suitability to early planted conditions (January planting) under moisture stress/drought at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Anakapalle during 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23. Sugarcane clones tolerant to moisture stress is need of the hour as sugarcane yields are drastically reducing due to moisture stress/drought. Field experiments were conducted with stress and nonstress treatments for evaluation of sugarcane clones’ tolerance to soil moisture stress/drought. Among fifteen prerelease sugarcane clones tested sugarcane clones 2015A 51 (96.06 t/ha), 2015A 233 (94.14 t/ha), 2015A 183 (89.12 t/ha) and 2015A 93 (84.09 t/ha) recorded higher cane yield over other clones tested. The standards 87A 298 and 83V 15 recorded a cane yield of 73.02 t/ha and 85.076 t/ha which are lower than the superior clones. These clones also recorded significantly low SLA which indicates more photosynthetic assimilates per unit area. SPAD/SCMR values at 120 DAP under stress conditions (Summer). These sugarcane clones also recorded significantly higher SPAD/SCMR values with standard 87A 298. The ancillary data denoting stress tolerance like sheath moisture per cent, root spread area, total bio mass production per stool under stress and physiological parameters like leaf proline content is also high in these sugarcane clones. Based on three years findings, sugarcane clones 2015A 51, 2015A 233, 2015A 183 and 2015A 93 were found to be suitable for drought/soil moisture stress condition of cane cultivation based on cane yield, ancillary data and physiological traits in relation to moisture stress tolerance. The drought tolerance efficiency per cent was high in 2015A 59 (92.08%) followed by 2015A 233 (89.33%) and 2015A 93 (87.98%) over other clones tested. The standards 87A 298 and 83V 15 recorded a drought tolerance efficiency per cent of 72.27and 67.52 respectively

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