Sugarcane Germplasm Collection in Western Cameroon

Abstract

Sugarcane is losing its diversity owing to the many uses including biofuel production and genetic erosion. This study was carried out to collect sugarcane germplasm in Western Cameroon and to identify their uses and possible genetic erosion. Information was gathered from selected villages in two agro-ecological zones in Western Cameroon. The data were gathered through questionnaire, interviews and group discussion with pre-identified informants in the study area. Field trips were made to sugarcane fields to observe sugarcane landraces. A total of 290 questionnaires were distributed out to 203 males and 87 females of diverse age groups between 20 and 70 years. Majority of the population interviewed (37.9%) were between the age 41 and 50 years. Eighty three percent of the population had attained primary education and were knowledgeable on sugarcane plant. Five sugarcane landraces were identified in the study. The landraces included 'Buea sugarcane', 'Strong canda', 'Strong bark', 'Yellow cane' and 'Bakweri sugarcane'. These canes had varied uses ranging from food to medicine. The highest fidelity value was recorded by 'Buea sugarcane'. There was genetic erosion of this plant due to lack of market, shortage of land, diseases and introduction of improved cash crops. The tendency of the uses of local sugarcanes in this study area point out that sugarcane plays a major role in the lives of the population. To minimize dangers of the emerging uses of sugarcane as biofuel and the threat to genetic erosion, the existing biodiversity needs to be conserved.

Morphological diversity and principal component analysis of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) genotypes at Finchaa Sugar Estate

“…Principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) are widely used tools in many experimental procedures for better understanding of data as PCA aids to minimize the variables and demonstrates the relationship among them (Mundaragi et al,2017). Further, several studies indicate that multi variate statistical analysis, such as PCA and CA, are more effective in evaluating genetic diversity among sugarcane varieties (Arrey & Mih, 2016;Baloch, 2017). These techniques have been employed in assessment of genetic diversity among several other crops such as wheat, maize and chilli (Yatung et al, 2014).…”