Study of germination and seedling growth as influenced by different types of sugarcane setts

摘要

Faster germination coupled with early tillering is very important for realising higher cane and sugar yields. The seed materials are normally prepared by cutting the stem into pieces of varying lengths (with eye buds), as sugarcane exhibits characteristic "apical dominance" while sprouting. Nearly 75,000 two budded setts or 50,000 three budded setts are recommended for planting in one hectare of land. It can be noted that seed materials alone account for nearly 20 per cent of the cost of cane cultivation. By using single bud setts as planting materials, it is possible to achieve higher germination by avoiding the "apical dominance" and save considerable amount of seed materials, compared to two or three eye bud setts. Bhoj et al. (1960) recommended lower seed rate for good germination based on field experiments. As the food reserves in the different bud setts vary, the seedling vigour also may vary requiring different agronomic practices. Hence a preliminary field experiment was conducted during1999 to quantify the germination percentage and seedling growth performance with different sett types as seed materials on clay loam soil under irrigated condition at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore.