As Fungal Disease Hits Sugar Output In UP, New Cane Variety Holds Hope, Pg1

Key Highlights:

• Uttar Pradesh’s sugar output fell sharply from 126.4 lakh tonnes in 2019-20 to about 89.5 lakh tonnes in 2025-26, partly due to red rot disease.
• The widely cultivated sugarcane variety Co-0238 (Karan 4) has become increasingly susceptible to red rot, contributing to lower cane yields and sugar recovery.
• A new variety, Co-02016 (Karan 20), developed by ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute (ICAR-SBI), is being considered as a potential replacement for Co-0238.
• Co-02016 recorded an average cane yield of about 144.6 tonnes/hectare in industry trials, compared with 116.4 tonnes/hectare for Co-0238.
• Co-02016 also recorded higher mean sucrose content at around 18.7%, compared with 18.3% for Co-0238.
• The variety has shown resistance to the highly virulent CF13 red-rot pathotype and is undergoing the varietal release process before commercial cultivation.

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Detailed Insights:

• Co-0238 was released in 2009 for north-western India and combined early maturity, high cane yield and high sugar recovery.
• Its acreage in Uttar Pradesh rose from about 3% in 2013-14 to over 70% by 2022-23, creating heavy dependence on a single variety.
• Large-scale monoculture increases genetic uniformity, allowing evolving pathogens to spread rapidly and overcome resistance developed for earlier pathogen strains.
• Red rot is caused by the fungus Colletotrichum falcatum and can cause reddening of internal tissues, drying, reduced cane weight and lower sucrose recovery.
• Co-0238 was initially moderately resistant to prevalent red-rot races, but emergence of newer pathotypes such as CF13 weakened its field resistance.
• Co-02016 has undergone multi-location evaluation under the All India Coordinated Research Project on Sugarcane (AICRP-Sugarcane) to assess yield, quality and disease resistance.
• Diversifying cultivated varieties, using disease-free planting material, crop rotation and removing infected plants can reduce pathogen build-up and monoculture-related vulnerability.
• Disease-resistant varieties are important beyond sugar production because sugarcane also supports ethanol, jaggery, molasses, cogeneration and farmers' incomes.

Scientific/Technical Concepts Involved:

• Red Rot: A fungal sugarcane disease caused by Colletotrichum falcatum that damages stalk tissues and reduces yield and sugar recovery.
• Pathotype: A pathogen variant distinguished by its ability to infect particular host varieties with different resistance traits.
• Monoculture: Repeated large-scale cultivation of one crop or variety, increasing vulnerability to pests and diseases.
• Sugar Recovery: Percentage of sugar obtained from crushed sugarcane, indicating the efficiency and sugar content of the harvested cane.