Breeding of Exotic Sugarcane in Nigeria

Thirty(30) exotic sugarcane germplasm accessions and six (6) standard varieties as (checks) were evaluated at Experimental Farm,University of Ilorin Sugar Research Institute for two cropping seasons 2011 and 2012.The data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (Anova). Separation of means and standard error, ranges and coefficient of variations of the results showed that there were significant differences at(p < 0.05)level of probabilities in germination and tiller counts at all records in number of stalk/stool, stalk girth, number of internodes/stalk and internodes length, while there was no significant difference in stalk length, similarly there were also significant difference in brix reading at 8 MAP, 9 MAP, 10 MAP but there were no significant difference at 11 MAP and 12 MAP. Significant difference were also found in final brix at harvest, number of millable canes and cane yield in tones/hectare at harvest 12 MAP, but there was no significant difference in single stalk weight(kg). Most of introductions differed significantly for almost all the characters studied compared to the existing varieties.