Variations in Growth Performance and Nitrogen Uptake of Sugarcane Cultivars Under Rain-Fed Conditions

The experiment was conducted to evaluate growth and nitrogen uptake of the twelve sugarcane varieties, viz. NiF3, NiF8, Ni9, Ni12, Ni15, Ni17, Ni21, Ni22, Ni25, Ni27, Ni28, and Ni29, under rain-fed conditions during the period from 70 to 160 days after transplanting (DAT) at the experimental field, Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan. The results showed that water shortage from a rain-fed condition caused reductions, but not significant in plant height and SPAD of sugarcane varieties. The genetic variation in leaf area, yield components, partial and total biomass, and cane yield was found among the investigated varieties. The positive associations between total nitrogen uptake with total biomass production and cane yield suggested that higher nitrogen uptake supports better growth performance of sugarcane under rainfed conditions. From this study, NiF3 and Ni27 could be introduced as the promising sugarcane varieties for better growth performance and high nitrogen uptake under rain-fed conditions.