Sugar cane

Sugarcane is a tall perennial tropical grass, which tillers at the base to produce unbranched stems of 2-8 m tall, and of around 5cm in diameter. It could be called as giant grass. It is cultivated for these thick stems or stalks or canes, from which the sugar is extracted. The botany of cane consists of roots, leaves, stem (stalk) and inflorescence.

Root:

• The root system is fibrous and are of two types namely ‘sett roots’ and ‘shoot roots’.
• When the sugarcane sett is planted in the soil, the root primordials situated at the base of every cane joint is activated and produce roots. These roots are ‘sett roots’ and are mostly temporary.
• Sett roots can emerge within 24 hours of planting.
• The shoot roots arise from the root rings of the lower nodes of tillers. These roots are thick, fleshy, white and less-branched.
• These are permanent roots which are continually produced from tillers.
• Shoot roots emerge from the base of the new shoot, 5 -7 days after planting.

Leaf:

• The leaf consists of two parts, the blade and the sheath, separated by a leaf joint.
• The leaves are attached to the nodes of the stem on alternate sides.
• The leaf sheath is tubular in shape and is inserted at the node.
• The leaf blade is linear or lanceolate reaching upto 3 feet and the midrib is prominent with groove on upper surface.
• The ligule is a membranous ring found as an appendage of the sheath, separating the latter from the leaf blade, and bears long hairs.
• The scarious extension of the leaf sheath is known as auricle.

Stem:

• Sugarcane is propagated vegetatively with stem cuttings.
• The stem of sugarcane is roughly cylindrical and consists of nodes and internodes, the former being the area around the bud from the leaf scar to the growth ring and the latter being the part between the two nodes.
• The node consists of a lateral bud, root primordia and growth ring.
• Bud is situated in the axil of the leaf on alternate sides of the stalk.
• Root primordia at lower side of the leaf scar are arranged in rows.
• Growth ring is present immediately above the each node, coated with waxy layer.
• Sucrose content is higher at the bottom portion and decreases towards the top of the cane.

Inflorescence: The inflorescence or tassel of sugarcane, generally called as ‘Arrow’ is a loose terminal panicle. 25-50 cm long arrow with silky appearance owing to rings of long hairs below each spikelet. The arrangement of the spikelet is racemose. Each tassel consists of several thousand tiny flowers, each capable of producing one seed. Sugarcane usually flowers at the age of 10-12 months but some varieties do not flower at all.