GENETIC IMPROVEMENT OF SUGARCANE (Saccharum spp.) IN MÉXICO: A STORY OF SUCCESS WITH NEW CHALLENGES

Abstract

The program for sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) genetic improvement of the Center for sugarcane Research and Development (Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo de la Caña de Azúcar, CIDCA), together Hybridization and Quarantine Stations and eleven Regional Experimental Centers, generates, evaluates and selects new varieties of high agro-industrial yield, with resistance to the main pests and good adaptability to different agro-climate conditions in the six sugarcane regions in México, to endure the assault from climate change. In this contribution, the structure of the national program for genetic improvement is analyzed, as well as important achievements and some challenges that this sector currently faces. Scientific and technological advancements are highlighted, although a scheme for conventional genetic improvement is continued, which implies a period of 14 to 15 years to liberate a new variety. Even so, an important number of varieties have managed to be generated, which occupy 55 % of the surface cultivated with sugar cane, placing México as the sixth world producer of this crop. The most crucial challenges are the increase of the genetic base, the field yields, and the need for diversification of the crop and the industry.