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Effect of Planting Material Type on Experimental Trial Quality and Performance Ranking of Sugarcane Genotypes

In recent years, the use of presprouted setts (MPB, which stands for “mudas pre-brotadas” in Portuguese) to establish commercial sugarcane nurseries has grown in Brazil. MPB and single-bud setts (SBS) have the advantage of requiring less planting material and enabling a higher multiplication rate of the source material as compared with the conventional multibud sett (MBS) planting system. Sugarcane breeding programs could also potentially benefit from the precise spacing afforded by MPB or SBS planting materials, by reducing trial variability. However, the effect of planting material type on the performance ranking and consequent selection of sugarcane clones in a breeding program has not been previously investigated. We present results on possible interactions between genotype and the type of planting material (MPB, MBS, or SBS) on key performance parameters, like sugar content, cane yield, and sugar yield, in the context of the intermediate phase of a sugarcane breeding program. Our results indicate that trial quality does not necessarily improve with the use of MPB or SBS planting materials and that type of planting material has a significant effect on the ranking of sugarcane genotypes, and this needs to be taken into consideration when considering the use of new planting technologies in breeding trials of vegetatively propagated crops such as sugarcane.