Screening of Bi-parental and Mutant Clones of Sugarcane Saccharum officinarum L. for Resistance to Smut Disease

Six newly developed clones of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) clones obtained from gamma irradiated progenies (KRS/96/007, KRS/96/002, KRS/96/001) and from bi-parental crosses (SRS/96/305, SRS/96/210 and SRS/96/004) were used in the study of their level of smut disease resistance. The results of the application of the standard smut disease scale of sugarcane showed that all the clones from bi-parental crosses and only one clone (KRS/96/002) from gamma irradiated progenies were highly resistant to smut disease of sugarcane with zero incidence of the disease. Diseased plants were observed on the remaining two clones from gamma irradiated progenies (KRS/96/007 and KRS/96/001), but the percentage of infection was very low (1.1%) and they were therefore also rated as resistant clones.