Question

(a) Write the desirable characters a farmer looks for in his sugarcane crop.

(b) How did plant breeding techniques help north Indian farmers to develop cane with desired characters? [3]

Answer 1

(a)The desirable characters of a sugarcane crop are: high yield, thick stem, high sugar content, ability to grow in other area, etc. [1]

(b) Saccharum barberi was originally grown in north India, but had poor sugar content and yield. Farmers in north India crossed Saccharum barberi with the south Indian variety, Saccharum officinarum which had thicker stems and higher sugar content but did not grow well in north India. Such plant breeding techniques produced desired characteristics in the sugarcane grown in north India. [2]