Energy Cane Production and Characteristics in Georgia.

Energy cane is a high yielding biomass crop for much of the Southeast. Five energy cane varieties were tested at Athens, GA and Tifton, GA for seven years as part of the SunGrant Regional Energy Cane Yield Trials. The rain-fed plots received recommended fertilizer at the beginning of each season with no irrigation. Among the traits recorded were monthly BRIX, juice content at end of season, plant height throughout the growing season, and dry matter biomass yield. Energy cane cultivars with the highest yields for the two locations were F1 hybrids of a commercial sugar cane (mainly Saccharum officinarum) and S. spontaneum, while backcrosses with sugar cane produced higher BRIX and juice. The highest biomass yields were from Ho (US) 96-9001 and 96-9002 at both locations. BRIX of Ho (US) 02-144 was significantly higher (12.2 and 13.9, respectively for Athens and Tifton) than all other genotypes and peaked at around 17 in December. The highest yield of juice was from Ho (US) 72-114.