O Coto Arbelo1, A Momotaz1, H Sandhu2, J Todd3, W Davidson4 and K Corak5
1USDA-ARS, Sugarcane Field Station, 12990 US Highway 441 N, Canal Point, FL 33438, USA; orlando.cotoarbelo@usda.gov
2University of Florida, Everglades Research and Education Center, 3200 East Palm Beach Rd., Belle Glade, FL 33430, USA
3USDA-ARS, Sugarcane Research Unit, 5883 USDA Road, Houma, LA, 70360, USA
4Florida Sugarcane League, Inc., P.O. Box 1208, Clewiston, FL 33440, USA
5USDA-ARS, Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Unit, 141 Experiment Station Road, Stoneville MS 38776, USA
A sugarcane breeding program for sandy soils was started in Florida in 2011. After 10 years, genotypic values and the trend of genetic gains for cane yield (CY) and commercial recoverable sucrose (CRS) were evaluated. Fifty-six test varieties and three check cultivars planted in three or four sand locations were evaluated based on Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP) during plant cane and two ratoon crops. The effect of the breeding program (varieties originating from sand or muck soils) on CY and CRS was also evaluated. Twenty-seven test varieties were identified as high performing varieties for CY, whereas 25 test varieties showed higher genotypic values for CRS. The analysis identified 13 varieties as high performing for both CY and CRS. The test varieties showed a highly significant genetic gains up to 4.92 t ha-1 and 1.89 kg t-1 for CY and CRS, respectively. Test varieties originally selected on muck soils showed the highest genetic gains for CY, while test varieties selected from seedlings planted on sand soils showed the highest genetic gains for CRS. Results indicated no evidence of a yield plateau for CY and CRS in the CP program for sand soils.