Sugar Cane: Past and Present

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Sugar Cane: Past and Present

Sugar cane is composed of six species of perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum L., in tribe Andropogoneae of the Gramineae. There are two wild species, S. spontaneum L. and S. robustum Brandes & Jeswiet ex Grassl, and 4 cultivated species, S. officinarum L., S. barberi Jeswiet, S. sinense Roxb., and S. edule Hassk. (Purseglove 1979). The four cultivated species are complicated hybrids, and all intercross readily. All commercial canes grown today are inter-specific hybrids (Wrigley 1982).

DISTRIBUTION

Sugar cane is believed to have originated in the South Pacific. S. spontaneum occurs in the wild from eastern and northern Africa, through the Middle East, to India, China, Taiwan, and Malaysia, and through the Pacific to New Guinea. The center of origin is probably in northern India where forms with the smallest chromosome numbers occur. S. robustum is found along river banks in New Guinea and some of its adjacent islands and is indigenous to the area. S. officinarum (or noble cane) most likely originated in New Guinea. This cane is only suited for tropical regions with favorable climate and soil. S. barberi probably originated in India. S. sinense occurs in portions of India, Indo-china, southern China and Taiwan. S. edule is thought to be a sterile form of S. robustum and is found only in New Guinea and nearby islands (Purseglove 1979).

Cane sugar is currently grown primarily in tropical regions. The highest latitudes at which cane is grown is in Natal, Argentina and at the southern extremes of the Australian industry (approximately 30 degrees S), and at 34 degrees N in northwest Pakistan, and 37 degrees N in southern Spain (Jenkins 1966).

HISTORICAL RECORD

Sugar cane has been known fo...

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.... Vol. 1. Chapman and Hall Ltd., London. 258 pp.

Hagelberg, G.B. 1985. Sugar in the Caribbean: turning sunshine into money. The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. 42 pp.

Heiser, C.B. 1981. Seed to civilization: the story of food. Second ed. W.H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco. 254 pp.

Jenkins, G.H. 1966. Introduction to cane sugar technology. Elsevier Publishing Co., New York. 478 pp.

McIlroy, R.J. 1963. An introduction to tropical cash crops. Ibadan University Press, Nigeria. 163 pp.

Paturau, J.M. 1982. By-products of the cane sugar industry. Second ed. Elsevier scientific Publishing Co., New York. 366 pp.

Purseglove, J.W. 1979. Tropical crops: monocotyledons. Longman Group Ltd., London. 607 pp.

Wrigley, G. 1982. Tropical agriculture: the development of production. Fourth ed. Longman Inc., New York. 496 pp.

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