Dilmer Guerra Guzmán1, Fredy Salazar Villarreal1, Mario Augusto García2, Carlos Arturo Viveros1, Sandra Lorena Zapata1, Luis Orlando Lopez1, Fernando Silva Aguilar1 and John J Riascos1 #
1Sugarcane Research Center of Colombia, CENICAÑA Varieties Program, Colombia
2National University of Colombia, Palmira campus, Colombia
Inbreeding has been evaluated in multiple crop diploid species and has been related to losses of vigor in progenies. In polyploid species, such as sugarcane, the effect of inbreeding on vigor has not evaluated. The objective of the work was to evaluate the effect of inbreeding on agronomic and productive traits in five sugarcane populations. The experiment was planted in the sugarcane region of the Cauca River Valley in Colombia. Five S0 parental varieties, 241 S1 lines, developed by selfing of the parents, and five commercial varieties (checks) were evaluated in an augmented block design. Statistical analyses and calculations of inbreeding depression (%ID) were done with the SAS 9.4 statistical program. Self-fertilization cycles produced significant losses of vigor in S1 progenies for the variables plant height, PH, (6.23%), Brix (%cane) (12.15%), stem diameter, SD (7.13%) and sucrose (%cane) (11.69%), while the fiber content (%cane) increased by 12.67%. The self-fertilized progenies produced 16.74 t cane/ha (TCH) less than the non-self-fertilized parents. Self-fertilized progenies of the varieties CC 86-2B-18 and CC 87-117 showed higher TCH, PH and SD than the parents. It is concluded that in some sugarcane varieties the lines obtained are of high genetic value in a breeding program aimed at the generation of hybrids.