SRA's Improved Disease Rating System

Abstract

Disease screening of varieties in the selection program is an important part of the decision-making process for advancement of clones through the program and release of new varieties to industry. For many years, disease ratings were given on a 1-to-9 scale based on the recommended International Society of Sugarcane Technologists method for assigning disease resistance ratings. This 1-to-9 scale can be further categorised as Resistant (1-3), Intermediate (4-6) and susceptible (7-9). However, this system didn’t take into account the precision of the rating for any given clone or variety.