Productivity-based evaluation of elite sugarcane cultivars for sustainable sugar production

This study was aimed at screening out local and exotic sugarcane clones based on productivity. Twenty-three early sugarcane varieties cultivated at model farms of Sugar Research Institute Shakkarganj (Pakistan) on September 2008 were examined periodically for juice extract, Brix, Pol, purity and sucrose recovery during the October to March crushing season of 2009-2010. A steady rise in quality was seen from the 11-12 month growth period until maturity with a clear decline afterwards to follow a quadratic equation given a strong correlation coefficient r2≈1. A highly significant difference (P