Sugarcane

Sugarcane

Scientific name: Saccharum officinarum L.

Bangla/ Local names: Aakh, Ikkhu, Gendari, Hussel, Kajuli, Kusa, Kushiar.

 

 

 

 

Taxonomic Position According to Cronquist (1988)

KingdomPlantae
DivisionMagnoliophyta
ClassLiliopsida
SubclassCommelinidae
OrderPoales
FamilyPoaceae
GenusSaccharum
SpeciesS. officinarum

sugar cane

Sugarcane

Fig. Field View of Sugarcane

Sugar cane stem twig

Sugar cane leaf

Botanical Description of Sugarcane

 

Habit: Sugarcane is a perennial herb.

Root: Root system develops into an extensive system with thin and thick roots. The thin roots occur in the top layer of the soil, up to 50cm deep, spreading about 2 m from the plant. Thicker roots may grow downwards up to 6 m deep

Stem:  The stems, 3-5 m tall and 1.3-5 cm thick, are divided into a number of joints.

Scane stem

Fig. Stem of Sugarcane

Leaf: The alternating leaves arise from the nodes, in two rows on either side of the stem. They consist of a leaf-sheath and elongated leaf blade with a thick mid-rib up to 2 m long and 4-10 cm wide with sharp margins; Leaf blades linear-lanceolate, 100-200 x 3-6 cm, apex, acuminate, base narrow, glabrous, margin scabrous, Ligules very short, membranous, ciliate, sheaths glabrous or pubescent, older ones deciduous, often auricled with prominent auricular hairs, collar large, prominent, glabrous or appressed pubescent.

Inflorescence: The inflorescence is an open-branched panicle in which there are some hundreds of tiny spikelets. Lower florets empty, upper florets bisexual.

sugarcane-253203_640

Flower: Flowers are bisexual. However, flowering is considered as an undesirable characteristic in commercial cane crop because it stops vegetative growth and development of sugar-storage capacity.

Perianth: Lodicules usually eciliate, rarely with a few cilia, variable in shape, ranging from cuneate-bilobed to crenate-truncate.

Androecium: Anthers 1.0-1.8 mm long, yellow.

Gynoecium: Stigmas purple.

Fruit: The fruit is a small caryopsis, about 1 mm long

Chromosome number: 2n=80

Economic Importance: Sugarcane is an economically important sugar crop. The main product of sugarcane is sucrose, which accumulates in the stalk internodes. Sucrose, extracted and purified in specialized mill factories, is used as raw material in human food industries or is fermented to produce ethanol.

Sugar and molasses are produced from stem juice of the plant. Stem juice is useful in fatigue thirst, leprosy, intestinal troubles, anemia and diarrhea. Industrial ethyl alcohol is manufactured from molasses. Molasses is widely used as a stock feed. Cane tops are fed to livestock. Bagasse, the fibrous residue left after the extraction of the juice from the sugarcane, is used in manufacture of paper, cardboard, fiber board and wall board.

 

Table 1. Sugarcane varieties developed by Bangladesh Sugarcane Research Institute, Ishurdi, Pabna, Bangladesh

Serial NumberName of variety Year of ReleaseGrowing seasonAverage yield

(t ha-1)

1Isd 1/53 (Nota Kushir)1967Year round74
2Isd 2/541967Year round79
3Isd 3/541974Year round67
4Isd 4/55Year round86.45
5Isd 6/66Year round66
6Isd 7/57Year round61
7Isd 8/57Year round61
8Isd 10/54Year round74
9Isd 11/58Year round66
10Isd 12/58Year round70
11Isd 13/58Year round81
12Isd 14/60Year round81
13Isd 151974Year round86
14Isd 161981Year round86
15Isd 17Year round85
16L-Jaba C1982Year round79
17Isd 181988Year round85
18Isd 191988Year round83
19Isd 201990Year round72
20Isd 211990Year round71
21Isd 221993Year round65
22Isd 241993Year round49
23Isd 251993Year round61
24Isd 261995Year round59
25Isd 271995Year round69
26Isd 281996Year round78
27Isd 291998Year round70
28Isd 302000Year round77
29Isd 312000Year round90
30Isd 322002Year round104
31Isd 332002Year round98
32Isd 342002Year round93
33Isd 352003Year round94
34Isd 362003Year round88
35Isd 372006Year round91
36Isd 382007Year round113
37Isd 392009Year round103
38Isd 402009Year round110
39BSRI Akh 412012Year round139.55
40BSRI Akh 422014Year round169.57
41BSRI Akh 432014Year round118.36
42BSRI Akh 442014Year round106.91
43BSRI Akh 45Year round105
44BSRI Akh 46Year round103

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