Impact of yield and quality-related traits of sugarcane on sugar recovery

Sugar recovery of Pakistani sugarcane varieties is relatively low as compared to the rest of the world while very little work is done on this aspect. The current study was conducted to tackle this issue and to assess the effect of quality and yielding traits on final sugar recovery. Sixty genotypes of sugarcane were sown during 2013 and data was collected at different growth stages during maturity and post maturity. Correlation studies indicated that polarity (0.77**) and purity (0.73**) were positively and significantly correlated with sugar recovery while brix% (-0.21**), fiber contents (-0.21**) and number of leaves per plant (-0.33**) were significant and negatively correlated with sugar recovery. Furthermore, leaf area was positively and significantly correlated with internode length (0.63**). Path coefficient analysis indicated that highest direct effect on sugar recovery was shown by purity (2.92), followed by brix% (2.48), and leaf area (0.66) which confirms that these traits could contribute more towards an increase of sugar recovery. Overall values of higher direct and indirect effects were observed by purity. The results of the current studies indicate that sugar recovery can be improved by focusing on purity, brix%, and leaf area.