17 June 2013

Growers encouraged to order tissue culture sugarcane plantletsfor planting in autumn 2014

BSES Limited (BSES)is reminding cane growers and productivity service boards that orders fortissue culture sugarcane plantlets close on 15 July 2013.

Gae Plunkett, Development Officer – Varieties, Professional Extension and Communication Unit, BSES said that plantlets ordered before the mid-July deadline will be delivered to growers for planting in autumn 2014.

“Tissue culture is an excellent source of clean seed for all varieties and can help reduce the spread of serious diseases such as ratoon stunting disease, smut and Fiji leaf gall,” said Ms Plunkett.

“Tissue culture plantlets are produced from disease-free plants. They are then grown under sterile conditions in the laboratory to ensure they remain disease-free.

“In addition, the survival rate of tissue culture plants is very high, creating uniform crops.

“Tissue-cultured crops also produce more sticks than conventional billet plantings. This allows for commercial-scale plantings of a new variety,sooner.”

Managing the range of varieties on a farm helpsimprove productivity over the whole crop cycle. The latest variety selection information including that from this year’s Variety Adoption Committee meetingsis freely available on QCANESelectTM – BSES’s online variety decision-support tool.

“Once a grower identifies the best varieties for planting on their farm, they can contact their local productivity services board to place orders for plantlets,” said Ms Plunkett.

“On average two trays of plantlets which are planted in autumn 2014 can produce up to one tonne of material for planting in 2015. A commercial operation could produce up to five tonnes of material by ordering just ten trays.

“By planning ahead, growers can make a real improvementto the productivity of their farmand add value to the Australian sugarcane industry as a whole.”

Table 1: Plantlet quantity ordering information

Media contact: Vanessa Sandhu, Communications Manager, 0419 175 815.
Further information: Visit the BSES website at www.bses.com.au for further information on varieties or to access QCANESelectTM.

For more information on tissue culture orders contact your local productivity services board or Gae Plunkett (gplunkett@bses.com.au) and Roderick Fletcher (rfletcher@bses.com.au), Development Officers – Varieties, BSES.