38 A^riciilliiral Research and Produclivily 



Barbados and British Guiana stations lagged in their introduction 

 of the nobilization breeding technique. 



Stage 4— Breeding for Specific Soil and Climatic Conditions 



The introduction of local species into the breeding program in the 

 Coimbatore station in India set the stage for modern breeding ac- 

 tivity. More than a hundred sugarcane experiment stations are 

 now in existence. In almost every case these stations are pursuing 

 a breeding program that involves the systematic crossing and self- 

 ing of parent species to develop new varieties suited to the 

 specific soil, climate, and disease conditions, as well as the 

 cultivating and harvesting techniques of relatively small produc- 

 ing regions. The data in table 3.1 reflect the increasing importance 

 in several countries of locally bred or stage 4 varieties. 



Table 3.1: Percent of Sugarcane Acreage Planted to Varieties 



Developed by the Experiment Stations 



of Selected Countries, 1930-65 



Refiion 1930 1940 1945 1950 J 955 I960 l%5 



Source: Annual Report. Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations, Queensland, various 

 issues, 1928-64. Proceedings of the Twelfth Congress, International Society of Sugar- 

 cane Technologists, New York, 1967, pp. 867, 1041. Culture of Sugarcane for Sugar 

 Production in Louisiana, USDA Agriculture Handbook 262, Washington, D.C., 

 1964. 



Modern cane-breeding of the stage 4 type is considerably more 

 sophisticated than earlier work. As a result of worldwide searches 

 for new cane species, new genetic materials have been made 

 available for breeding programs. The level of investment in scien- 

 tific education and the intellectual investment required of the 

 modern researcher have increased. Overall, the proportion of the 

 effort of the sugarcane experiment station's staff directly devoted 



