Comparative study of new U-thong sugarcane varieties and locally cultivated varieties in Kumphawapi district, Udon Thani province

Abstract

The study was performed to trial yields and collect information on some agronomic performances of U-thong sugarcane varieties and local varieties in rain-fed sandy soil in Udon Thani province in northeastern Thailand during 2011-12. Treatments comprised of 9 varieties including U-thong 9, U-thong 10, U-thong 11, U-thong 12, U-thong 13, K88-92, Khon Kaen 3, KKU99-06, and K99-72. The experiment was laid out in RCBD with 3 replications. Agronomical characteristics, cane yield, and juice quality of these varieties were investigated 6 and 12 months after planting. The results showed that K88-92, KKU99-06, and U-thong 11 had the highest percentages of germination a month after planting at 78.04, 77.64, and 76.08%, respectively. K88-92, Khon Kaen 3, U-thong 9, and U-thong 12 could produce the highest cane yields at 24.2, 22.7, 22.1, and 21.3 ton per rai, respectively. Furthermore, K88-92, Khon Kaen 3, K99-72, KKU99-06, and U-thong 13 had high fiber content in the range of 10.72-11.12% as well as high CCS in the range of 10.46-10.85 CCS. At 3 months after planting, K99-72, KKU99-06, and U-thong 12 had high ratoon percentage in the range of 37.04-42.13%. Moreover, Khon Kaen 3 and U-thong 12 had quite low flowering compared to that of K88-92 which was very low. However, the comparative study of these new varieties of sugarcane should be done for several years and on many sites in order to produce acceptable information.