Agroindustrial performance and phenotypic parameters evaluation of sugarcane varieties in different crop seasons

Abstract

Sugarcane can be cultivated as raw material for craft cachaça production and forage for animal feed, but usually a good technological input is not used, because varieties for sugar and ethanol production are planted. The aim of this study was to evaluate the agroindustrial performance and the estimation of phenotypic parameters of sugarcane varieties of the first and second crop seasons. The experimental design was a triple lattice 4 x 4, being assessed sixteen varieties of three different institutions. Agronomic and technological characters with agroindustrial importance were evaluated. There was a significant difference between the varieties and the crop seasons for the traits evaluated in the joint analysis. The phenotypic parameters analysis contributed to the understanding of the traits performance throughout two crop seasons. Varieties do not present a similar behavior, however, they have regularity in the performance, over time, for most agronomic and industrial characters evaluated. Phenotypic characteristics POL and TRS, show good reliability in predicting the genotypic value for these variables. The high number of measurements required for the TSH, Purity and SM characters make it difficult to select potential varieties. Phenotypic correlation evaluated in two harvests is not sufficient to carry out the recommendation of varieties.