Anahí Denise Matías Cruz

Screening for Sugarcane Cultivars against Stem-Borers

Sugarcane Saccharum officinarum is a biannual-perennial crop with a high production of biomass. There are biotic and abiotic conditions that reduce sugarcane yield. As biotic condition, stem-borer (Eoreuma loftini.) attacks the sugarcane at along life cycle. The aim of this research was to assess the degree of stem-borer tolerance across 40 sugarcane genotypes under different environmental conditions and production systems. This research was carried out in El Mante (location 1) and Altamira (location 2) both located in the south of Tamaulipas state, Mexico. The reproducible damage of stem-borer across sugarcane genotypes was observed at 12-months old. The damage of Stem-Borer was quantified for each individual plant and location. To determine whether a sugarcane genotype is tolerant to Stem-Borer, the sugarcane CP 72-2086 cultivar was used as a reference. As the main finding, the tolerance of stem-borer was significantly different between locations. Furthermore, the standardised data allowed us to categorised sugarcane genotypes into three groups, tolerant, moderate-tolerant and sensitive sugarcane cultivars to stem-borer.