Luis Orlando Lopez Zuniga1, Sandra Lorena Zapata1, Dilmer Guerra Guzman1, Wimberthey Gaitan1, Luis Felipe Bohorquez Carrillo1, Maria Alejandra Martinez Maya1, Carlos Arturo Viveros Valens1, Oscar Mauricio Delgado2, Fredy Salazar Villareal1 and John J Riascos1
1Colombian Sugarcane Research Center (CENICAÑA), Cali, Colombia; lolopez@Cenicaña.org
2Providencia Mill, Cali, Colombia
In Colombia, sugarcane for sugar production is located in the Cauca River Valley and Meta regions and is planted on about 240.000 ha with more than 3.800 farms and 15 mills and has the highest yield of cane per hectare (TCH) per year in the world. Although TCH production seems to be high, Cenicaña’s breeders have only been able to achieve low pol % due to the genetic makeup of the trait, the effects of the environment (Niño-Niña), and the agro-industrial practices involved in farming in the area. Sugarcane sucrose is one of the main contributors to the crop profitability, and the understanding of the variance components and other genetic statistics, in such variable, is key for greater genetic gains when selecting and applying trait breeding methodologies. This study evaluated Stage I families in a population planted in a North Carolina Design I, in two separate locations. Male, female within male, environmental, additive and dominance variances were estimated, as well as broad- and narrow-sense heritability. For sucrose, additive variance is higher than dominance variance in both populations. Broad-sense heritability was medium to high and narrow-sense heritability was medium. Both cases demonstrated additive models with several genes involved in the determination of the characteristic. Parental selection should be successful in improving the trait, but intercrossing between them should be studied for better combinations.