Efficient shoot regeneration of sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrid cv. CP84-1198) from embryogenic callus cultures has been obtained using thidiazuron (TDZ). Callus was placed on modified Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 2.3 mM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), or 9.3 mM kinetin and 22.3 mM naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and compared with the same MS medium supplemented with 0.5, 1.0, 2.5, 5.0 or 10.0 mM TDZ. All TDZ treatments resulted in faster shoot regeneration than the kinetin/NAA treatment, and more shoot production than either the 2,4-D or kinetin/NAA treatments. Maximum response, as determined by total number of shoots (26 per explant) and number of shoots greater than 1 cm (4 per explant) 4 wk after initiation, was obtained with 1.0 mM TDZ. The shoots rooted efficiently on MS medium supplemented with 19.7 mM indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). These results indicate that TDZ effectively stimulates sugarcane plant regeneration from embryogenic callus, and may be suitable to use in genetic transformation studies to enhance regeneration of transgenic plants.