Selection of energy cane clones

Abstract The objective of this study was to select a population of sugarcane clones to develop energy cane cultivars. The genotypic means of 124 clones were estimated for the yield-related traits: mean number of stalks per plant (NS), mean stalk weight (MSW), fiber content (FIB), lignin content (LIG), and sucrose content in cane juice (SPC). From these data, the traits tons of cane per hectare (TCH), tons of fiber per hectare (TFH) and tons of lignin per hectare (TLH) were estimated. The clone effects were statistically significant (p <0.01) for all traits except TLH and LIG. Clone UFV09251 had the highest genotypic values for TFH and TCH. Clone UFV09270 had a high fiber content (15.04%) and clone UFV09225 a high sucrose content (14.05%). The correlation between TFH and TCH was high (0.89). Clone UFV09251 is highly promising as energy cane cultivar, for producing most TCH and FIB.