Maharashtra is trying to develop new cane varieties to regain its dominance in sugar production. Primary trials of a cane variety called ‘Co 18121’ developed by the Pune-based Vasantdada Sugar Institute is being hailed as promising with a recovery rate ranging between 12.60% to 13.10% and a productivity of 155 tonne per hectare, nearly 25 tonne more than the previous varieties developed by the Centre, top officials of the research institute said.
VSI, led by former union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, has been pushing newer cane varieties since Uttar Pradesh overtook Maharashtra in cane production and remains the top producer of the country for the past couple of years, thanks to the wonder cane variety called ‘Co-0239’, developed by Bakshi Ram, director of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s Sugarcane Breeding Institute at Coimbatore. Mills in Maharashtra are seeking newer cane varieties that not only at better production levels but also offer improved sugar recovery levels, senior officials of the institute said. Yet another cane variety developed by the institute, ‘VSI 08005’, introduced in the state in 2018 is known for its drought resistant properties and has turned out to be very popular with farmers in Marathwada, which is a drought prone region. Today, nearly 80% of the cane area in this region comes under this cane variety, Dr Ramesh Hapse, chief scientist, VSI said.
‘Co 18121’ is a combination developed using ‘Co 86032’ and ‘CoT 8021’. Cane varieties are being jointly developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and VSI from 1987 under a common project and this particular cane variety ‘Co 18121’ was part of the research programme for the last 5 years, Hapse said, adding that this variety surpasses ‘Co-86032’ in terms of productivity and recovery as well. At present trials are being conducted in various sugar factories. Efforts are on to introduce this cane variety on a commercial scale, officials said.
‘Co-86032’ cane variety has been giving a yield of 130-135 tonne per hectare and a recovery rate of 12.50% to 13% while ‘CoVSI’ has given a yield of 155 tonne per hectare and a recovery rate 12.60% to 13.10%.
VSI has been working on nearly 35 cane varieties which are grown on 98 demo plots at the institute and farmers will be given demonstrations on these cane varieties at the upcoming international conference and exhibition. Hapse pointed out that although VSI has also grown the UP wonder cane variety ‘Co 0238’ as part of its research efforts, this cane variety has not been very successful in Maharashtra, possibly because of the climatic conditions and soil. It is because of ‘Co-0238’ that average cane yields in UP have risen from around 60 tonne to almost 80 tonne per hectare in the last five years, which is clearly a result of older varieties such as ‘CoS-767’ and ‘CoJ-64’ giving way to ‘Co-0238’.
For Maharashtra, however, developing a drought resistant variety has been more important. Therefore efforts on the ‘VSI 08005’ cane variety is being considered very promising by the research institute. Shivajirao Deshmukh, director general, VSI said that the institute had sent a delegation to Indonesia to study drought resistant varieties where they have received information on a Japanese variety. However, this turned out to be a GM modified crop and GM crops are not permitted in our country and therefore research on it could not be carried further, he explained.