The idea was mooted during the recent visit of the agricultural production commissioner (APC) Apoorva to the sugarcane research station and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) at Sirugamani.“The research may be initiated on gene manipulation techniques to create varieties with a high sugar content as it would increase farmers’ revenue above the profitability of the mill,” she was quoted as saying during her visit.

 

Programme coordinator, KVK, and head of SRS, C Raja Babu, said on Thursday that the farmers will prefer high yield, while the sugar mills would like to have sugarcanes with more juice to make more sugar. “If one characteristic is prominent in a variety, other characteristics may be subdued.

 

In this case, our commissioner suggested having a sugarcane variety with both the characteristics of yield and sugar content,” Raja Babu said, adding that the SRS will take it forward and work on it.He also said that SRS developed Sirugamani 7 known for its high juice content and Sirugamani 8 with good yield characteristics.