Seed programme to up cane yield in state

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 6

A seed development programme has been prepared by SUGARFED, in coordination with PAU, Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Karnal and National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories, following the DNA test on sugarcane variety CO-238 revealing that it is not pure and has parentage of other multiple varieties.

“The DNA test was done in the Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore. The samples of the seed were sent from Gurdaspur and Ajnala areas. The major reason for non-performance of this otherwise high-yielding variety is that the seed used in the state is not pure,” Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.

The CO-238 variety of sugarcane is considered to be high-yielding and grown on almost 50 per cent of the area under cane cultivation in Punjab.

Randhawa said the same variety in areas of Western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana was giving an average yield of 356-370 quintals per acre whereas in Punjab, having similar soil and climatic conditions, it was 40 quintals per acre.

Shivrajpal Singh Dhaliwal, sugarcane incharge, SUGARFED, said the reason for impure variety in Punjab was its late recommendation for use in 2014-15, even though it was cleared for cultivation in other states in 2009.

“For this season, around 20 lakh seed samplings of pure varieties have been distributed to farmers. We will also introduce single-bud technique cultivation this year onwards to increase our yield,” said Randhawa.