ABSTRACT
Sugar cane, an important industrial crop for the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, is known for its high photosynthetic efficiency. It accounts for about 80 per cent of the sugar produced in the world and about 8.5 million tonnes annually in Africa. Genetic improvement of sugar cane has led to an increase in both cane and sugar yields worldwide, and has enabled expansion of the crop into a larger range of environments. Much effort has been directed towards the development of new sugar cane varieties that meet the specific requirements of growers as well as addressing emerging uses of the crop. Future advances will require a synergy across several fields of research, including traditional breeding, genetics, physiology and biotechnology. The goal is to tap the enormous potential of the crop in both food and energy production, thereby transforming conventional sugar factories into sugar cane processing complexes for multiple products, especially electricity and ethanol, thus helping to sustain the long-term viability of the industry. The potential of using sugar cane as a biofactory for the accumulation of value-added products is yet to be fully exploited. A combination of conventional and molecular breeding approaches can enhance breeding efficiency for introgression breeding for biomass options. This chapter reviews the crop’s physiology, breeding and selection principles for developing new and improved varieties for sugar and biomass and the application of biotechnology for enhancing breeding programmes.
