Four improved sugarcane varieties brought in from India

The Government of India has handed over four improved sugarcane varieties to Nepal. The varieties were developed by the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research in Lucknow, India.

At a programme held in Kathmandu, Nisha, First Secretary at the Indian Embassy, handed over the seeds to Shreemat Shrestha, Executive Director of the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC).

The varieties were brought to Nepal through collaboration between the National Sugarcane Research Program, based in Jeetpur, Bara, under NARC, and the Indian institute. They were introduced with the aim of increasing juice content in sugarcane.

According to Dilraj Yadav, coordinator of the National Sugarcane Research Program, the new varieties have higher productivity and sugar content. He said promoting these varieties would improve sugarcane quality, farmers' income and sugar mill output.

Among the new varieties, COLK 16202 has a production capacity of about 93 tonnes per hectare and a sucrose content of about 18 percent. This variety matures in the mid-to-late season and is considered resistant to red rot, a major sugarcane disease.

Sugarcane is currently cultivated on about 53,000 hectares in the country, but average yield remains limited to about 50 metric tonnes per hectare.