Characterization of local and exotic sugarcane genotypes on the basis of morphological and quality related attributes

The current breeding program of sugarcane in pakistan does not fulfill the variety evolution of desired characters. it mostly depends on import of exotic fuzz-seed of sugarcane varieties,without keeping varietal characters in view. so,it is the dire need of the time to characterize the sugarcane germplasm not only for saving resources but also for finding genetic relationships among breeding materials for overall sugarcane crop improvement. in the present study 60 genotypes of sugarcane,belonged to 3 research stations two of pakistan and one from sri lanka,were characterized using principal component analysis (pca) and cluster analysis. at maturity data were analyzed for 19 traits and analyzed. pca showed seven principal components (pcs) having eigen value more than one and exhibited 72.1% variability in the genotypes. four groups of pca were formed for the traits. cluster analysis placed genotypes in seven groups. groups were not formed according to origins of genotypes which might be due to resemblance in their progenitors. each cluster was also marked for specific trait improvement related to that cluster based upon maximum mean value of that trait,either through selection or hybridization. four traits were found better in sugarcane research institute,faisalabad (sri,fsd) genotypes,five in shakarganj sugarcane research institute (ssri),jhang genotypes and three in sugarcane research institute (sri),udawalawae,sri lankan genotypes,on the basis of mean values. thus more emphasis could be given on these traits related to specific station for use in variety selection program for improvement of target trait. another interesting conclusion drawn from the study was that clusters were not formed according to genotypes of a specific research station because these local and exotic sugarcane genotypes are allopolyploid (with aneuploidy) hybrids,and can be traced back to founder clones (s. officinarum × s. spontaneum). © 2016,university of agriculture. all rights reserved.