Co-0238, India's wonder sugarcane variety tries to get its juice back

Successful variety helped farmers and millers alike but has fallen prey to red rot disease

More than a decade back, India’s sugar sector was characterised by troughs and crests that caused supply shortages and frustrated farmers not paid their dues.

Uttar Pradesh (UP) had the largest number of private millers, but at that time its sugar production barely matched that of rival Maharashtra. UP millers were notorious for not paying farmers on time, causing frequent frictions that became a political issue.

Then came Co-0238, a sugarcane variety developed by award-winning plant scientist Bakshi Ram. In his long career, Ram had released more than 14 sugarcane varieties meant mostly for north India. Some varieties were highly successful and others had moderate acceptability among farmers.

Co-0238 became a hit among farmers and millers alike for giving better per-hectare yield than other varieties and having higher sucrose content.

Higher yields meant that UP farmers earned almost Rs 62,000 per hectare purely by using Co-0238, while for the millers the recovery improved by almost 1.2-2.0 per cent, according to some analyses. UP became India’s largest sugar-producing state, surpassing Maharashtra. More importantly, the crests and troughs started smoothening out in the sector.

India became a net exporter of sugar as supplies soared and farmers saw their dues paid up in a single season.

Co-238 was released by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for the northwest zone comprising west UP, Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand but it reached eastern UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.

ICAR’s research showed that in 2014-15 Co 0238 resulted in an additional return of Rs 137.5 crore to farmers and sugar mills in UP.

Co-238 became the top choice of farmers of UP and the variety occupied almost 80-90 per cent of the total sugarcane-cultivated area in the state.

Problems start

It is then that problems started. Co-0238 was billed as moderately resistant to prevalent strains of the deadly red rot disease in sugarcane but started showing increasing susceptibility.

Red rot attacks meant that yields and recovery started dropping and in a few years UP lost the tag of being the largest sugar producer in the country.

Dr G Hemaprabha, director of ICAR’s Sugarcane Breeding Institute in Coimbatore, said three things caused red rot disease in Co-0238: unabated cultivation, wrong or poor quality seeds, and faulty practices.

“In their overzealousness to grow Co-0238 and cash in on the boom, farmers started planting the variety in waterlogged fields and in areas where it was not to be sown,” said Hemaprabha.

Red rot first attacked weak sugarcane plants and those grown in places not ideal for them. As the disease spread, Co-0238 found it difficult to fight it.

“Ideally, any new variety of a plant should occupy not more than 40-50 per cent of the planted area while in case of Co-0238 it now occupies more than 90 per cent of the area and is even grown in areas waterlogged fields where it should never be planted,” said Hemaprabha.

Scientists introduced new sugarcane variants in the northwest zone, but their adoption was weak and they were no match to Co-028, in either yield or recovery.

Scientists are resuscitating Co-0238, which is now more than a decade old.

“Proper treatment of seeds, healthy planting practices and use of Sett Treatment Device (STD) are ways through which red rot attack on Co-0238 could be deferred for a sizeable time,” said Hemaprabha.

In STD, sugarcane setts (sections of cane stalks with buds used for propagation) are soaked in water mixed with a fungicide in a vacuum chamber. Fungicide reaches the pores of the setts that give it protection against red rot for more than three months.

After that red rot can be controlled by regular spraying.

“Through all these, we have managed to control the devastating impact of red rot to a large extent and I’m very sure in the next few years, Co-0238 will be free of red rot if properly managed,” Hemaprabha said.

India controlled other farm diseases through effective management of vaccines and protocols. Hemaprabha recommended the same for dealing with red rot disease.