Genetic Variability of Sugarcane Clones as Affected by Major Endemic Diseases in Ferké, Northern Ivory Coast | Chapter 08 | Advances and Trends in Agricultural Sciences Vol. 1
Background: Sugarcane is a major commercial crop grown in tropical and subtropical areas of the world, including West and Central Africa. Across this region, smut, leaf scald and pokkah boeng are considered as endemic diseases, the first two being economically important. Aims: The overall objective of study was to contribute to sugarcane yield improvement in Ivory Coast. The specific objective was to evaluate the diversity of susceptible sugarcane genotypes mainly in first ratoon crop to three major endemic diseases under natural infection, namely leaf scald, smut and pokkah boeng. Methodology: The study was carried out over 2 seasons (2016-18) as plant and first ratoon cane at Ferké 1 experimental station under full covering sprinkler irrigation in northern Ivory Coast. Treatments were composed of 863 sugarcane genotypes split into 39 families planted at single row density. Planting was done per genotype in rows of 3 m long depending on families, without replicat...