Morphological characterization of two new sugarcane varieties: INTA NA 03-663 and INTA NA 03-617

Abstract

Sugarcane is among the most important industrial crops in Argentina. The Sugarcane Breeding Program of Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria produces sugarcane varieties adapted to the agroecological conditions of Argentina. Previous to the commercial releasement, the new varieties are carefully described for its registry and conservation, and protection of intellectual property. In this work, the morphological description of two new sugarcane varieties, INTA NA 03-663 and INTA NA 03-617, was performed. Plant cane vegetative material for the characterization was used. Twentyfour
stalks for quantitative characters and six for qualitative characters, collected from different randomly selected plants, were used. Expression levels were attributed to each character according to the normative of the International
Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. The varieties description presented here, will allow the identification of them under field conditions and their registration in the National Registry of Cultivars of Argentina.