Since very high yield and recovery loss was caused by pest and disease incidence, the need of the hour was in identifying varieties which happened to be high in sucrose content and resistance to pest and diseases, Santhanakrishnan said.

Speaking at a function as part of Dr G Rangaswami Endowment lecture, he said that since 1930, though the recovery per cent in sugarcane has increased fro 8.96 to 10.27, it was not to the expectations, commensurate to the doubling of cane yield per hectare during the period.

Though Tamil Nadu ranked first in cane yield with 111.4 tons per hectare, compared to other States' below 90 tons, recovery was only 9.61 per cent, he said, adding that in this context, identification of high sugared varieties became inevitable.

Varietal balancing was a very important factor in improving sugar recovery through crushing of sugarcane at right maturity time, he said.

Taking stock of the need by sugar mills for high sucrose content varieties and cane growers for high tonnage, TNAU has reoriented its varietal develoment approach to immediately feed them with sugarcane varieties combining high tonnage, high sucrose content and pest and disease resistant, he said. - Agencies

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