Smut no threat to new sugarcane variety

New sugarcane variety KQ228 is one of only a few high yielding smut resistant varieties and trials show it has the potential to increase returns five to ten per cent.

Bred and developed by a collaboration between CSIRO Plant Industry, BSES Limited and CSR Limited, KQ228 was released in Queensland's Burdekin region in 2006, after extensive field trial testing.

A strong demand for KQ228 planting material by growers is expected this year now that smut, which can reduce yields by 30 to 100 per cent in susceptible varieties, has been confirmed over most regions.

Usually it takes 10 to 16 years to breed and release a new sugarcane variety to industry but KQ228 took only eight years from the cross that produced it - a new record.

Dr Phil Jackson who leads the BSES-CSIRO Plant Industry Joint Venture for Variety Improvement explains that KQ228 was developed under a new sugarcane breeding selection system that is both fast and effective.

Commercial scale strip trials in the Burdekin region, done by CSR Ltd in parallel with final breeding program testing and propagation for release, suggest about a 10 per cent sugar yield increase (in the absence of smut) over existing alternative varieties.

With the early release and higher yields of KQ228 growers can improve the profitability of their sugarcane production sooner.

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