Previous Year Question
With reference to the current trends in the cultivation of sugarcane in India, consider the following statements:
A substantial saving in seed material is made when ‘bud chip settlings’ are raised in a nursery and transplanted in the main field.
When direct planting of setts is done, the germination percentage is better with single-budded setts as compared to setts with many buds.
If bad weather conditions prevail when setts are directly planted, single-budded setts have better survival as compared to large setts.
Sugarcane can be cultivated using settlings prepared from tissue culture.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1 and 2 only
3 only
1 and 4 only
2, 3 and 4 only
Correct Answer: C
Detailed Solution
Statement 1 is correct.
In bud-chip technology, instead of planting the entire node or cane stalk, the bud along with a small portion of the nodal region is removed and planted in a nursery.
Healthy nursery-raised seedlings can generally be transplanted into the main field after about 25–35 days.
Only the small bud-bearing portion is used; therefore, it substantially reduces the quantity of seed cane compared with conventional two- or three-budded setts.
Weak, diseased or non-germinating plants can be removed in the nursery and only healthy seedlings transplanted. This produces a more uniform plant population.
Statement 2 is incorrect.
Under direct field planting, single-budded setts do not necessarily have better germination than setts containing several buds.
Large or multi-budded setts contain greater reserves of stored carbohydrates, moisture and nutrients.
They also have a greater probability that at least one among the several buds will remain viable. Their establishment under direct planting is therefore relatively more reliable.
The principal advantage of single-budded material arises when it is raised as a seedling under controlled nursery conditions and subsequently transplanted.
Statement 3 is incorrect.
Following direct planting, small single-budded setts face a greater risk of desiccation or rotting under drought, excessive rainfall, low temperature or other adverse conditions.
Large setts possess greater water and food reserves and several buds. Consequently, large setts generally have better survival under bad weather conditions.
Statement 4 is correct.
Sugarcane can be propagated through plants produced by tissue culture or micropropagation.
Tissue-cultured plants are first multiplied in the laboratory, hardened, raised in a nursery and subsequently planted in the field.
The technique is useful for producing disease-free initial material, rapidly multiplying seed cane and obtaining genetically pure planting material.
ICAR’s quality seed-cane programme describes tissue-culture seedlings being tested for genetic fidelity and indexed for viruses before their use as disease-free initial material.