Association between growth traits and flooding tolerance of sugarcane genotypes

Abstract

Some growth traits during flooding might be a promising criterion for selection for flooding tolerance in sugarcane. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of flooding in tillering stage on growth and investigate the relationships between flooding tolerance and growth traits of sugarcane. Five sugarcane genotypes were examined for comparison between control and flooding condition in tillering stage. Data were collected on growth traits and total dry weight after prolonged flooding. Flooding reduced number of tillers, stalk diameter, number of leaves, leaf area and total dry weight. However, there were no flooding effect to stalk height and number of nodes. Genotype differences were observed for flooding tolerance. KPS 01-4-29 showed the highest of flooding tolerance because it had the highest of total dry weight under flooding condition and flooding tolerance index. The correlation coefficients between total dry weight and number of tillers, stalk diameter, stalk height, number of nodes, number of leaves and leaf area were positive and significant (r = 0.54* to 0.92**). Moreover, tolerance index of total dry weight was also correlated positively with tolerance index of stalk diameter, stalk height, number of nodes, number of leaves and leaf area (r = 0.52* to 0.86**). Therefore, these traits could be used as selection criteria in selecting genotypes for flooding tolerance in sugarcane.