Registration of ‘CP 08-1968’ Sugarcane

'CP 08-1968' (Reg. No. CV-185; PI 687332) sugarcane (a complex hybrid of Saccharum spp.) cultivar was developed through cooperative research conducted by the USDA-ARS, the University of Florida, and the Florida Sugarcane League, Inc. At the 5 June 2017 Florida Sugarcane Variety Committee Meeting, CP 08-1968 was released to growers for all soils in Texas; seedcane became available in September 2018. At the 30 Oct. 2017 Florida Sugarcane Variety Committee Meeting, CP 08-1968 was approved as a co-release to growers with sand soils in Florida and all soils in Texas. CP 08-1968 was selected from a biparental cross of CP 01-1178 x CP 00-1301 made at Canal Point, FL, in November 2006. The female parent, CP 011178, and the male parent, CP 00-1301, are not commercial cultivars. Cane yield of CP 08-1968 on sand soils in Florida, averaged across nine harvests through three crop cycles (plant-cane, first-ratoon, and second-ratoon), was 15.0 and 10.1% higher (P < 0.1) than that of CL 88-4730, a commercial check for sand soils, and CP 89-2143, a high commercial recoverable sucrose (CRS) commercial check for muck and sand soils. Although CP 08-1968 had 2.8 and 6.0% lower CRS than CL 88-4730 and CP 89-2143, respectively (Glaz et al., 2000), high cane yield resulted in 11.3 and 2.1% higher (P < 0.1) sucrose yield than CL 88-4730 and CP 89-2143, respectively. CP 08-1968 was released because of its high cane and sucrose yields on sand soils, as well as its acceptable levels of resistance to brown rust, smut, Sugarcane mosaic virus strain E (mosaic), Sugarcane yellow leaf virus (Comstock et al., 1999), and ratoon stunt. CP 08-1968 is susceptible to orange rust and has moderate to good freeze tolerance. CP 08-1968 tested negative for the Bru1 quantitative trait locus, which is an indicator of brown rust resistance.