Reducing the Australian sugar industry's genetic vulnerability to sugarcane smut : SRDC final report BSS256

Abstract

Sugarcane smut was recorded for the first time in Australia in July 1998 in the Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) and was identified in the Bundaberg/Isis, Central and Herbert regions of Queensland in 2006. Sugarcane smut can cause losses from 30-100% in susceptible varieties. The objective of this project was to rate Australian commercial varieties, advanced selections in the BSES/CSIRO selection programs, and parental clones for resistance to smut. The ratings will be used to provide smut- resistant varieties to the Australian sugar industry and to assist the breeding program to increase the frequency of smut-resistant genes in breeding populations.This project continues the work commenced in the SRDC project BSS214 Screening of Australian Germplasm for Resistance to Sugarcane Smut. The smut-screening trials were conducted on Madura Island by the Indonesian Sugar Research Institute (ISRI) under contract to BSES.