A Comparison of Seedcane Derived from Tissue Culture with Conventional Seedcane

Crops grown from seedcane ofNC031 0, NC0376 and N.I2 derived from a tissue culture process were compared with crops grown from conventional.seedcane in fi.eld trials at two sites. The use ofseedcane denved from the tissueculture process resulted in the plant crops of all three. varieties at both trial sites having increased stalk populations and reduced cane and sucrose yields. The results indicate that the three varieties have retained their yield potential since release, despite several decades of conventional propagation in the case of NC0310 and NC0376, and that the use of tissue culture for the production of seedcane offers no advantages in respect of productivity. In the first ratoon crop at both sites, plots of all three varieties that had been planted with the tissue culturederived seedcane contained higher levels of smut than the plots planted with conventional seedcane.