Being a Sugarcane Breeder on the Bayou

There aren't that many sugarcane breeders in the country, so when the opportunity was given to me to return to my profession, this time in southern Louisiana, I was very grateful. Having been underemployed for several years has given me a whole different perspective, and a healthy appreciation for how fortunate I am to even have a professional position. I think everyone ought to have the experience of being underemployed for a few years.

Sugarcane culture in Louisiana is so completely different than in Hawaii, that we might as well be talking about two completely different crops. When I first moved to Hawaii, the crop was grown anywhere from 2 to 4 years before it was harvested. The crop consisted of a mass of stalks that formed a mat usually about waist deep that would be almost impossible to walk through. The older stalks, if carefully untangled from the mat, would often be in the range of 30 feet in length. The crop was harvested with a so-called push rake, which is a large bulldozer with tines on the front. The cane was pushed into windrows and lifted with a crane into massive cane haul trucks with rows of chains on the bottom to hold the cane in place (and allow the dirt clumps and rocks to fall through) while the load was taken to the mill. The crop in Hawaii is essentially a year-around crop, so planting and harvesting is continually going on, and the crop age is variable as is easily seen from the air.

By contrast, the cane crop in Louisiana doesn't really start growing much until early April, and yet, less than 6 months later is being harvested. The harvest season is generally from late Sep to Dec 31, basically making it a 6 to 9 month crop. Harvesting is done with a chopper harvester, the cane being cut into billets less than 1 ft long. To achieve flowering in Louisiana, the desired parents must undergo a photoperiod treatment, being moved in and out of dark chambers, following a precise day-night regime for a 3-month period that changes by 1 min per day to simulate what would occur in a more tropical environment. In such a limited space to accomodate breeding canes, individual tassels are more highly prized in Louisiana than in Hawaii. When I first moved to Louisiana, I couldn't even relate to the concept of tassel-use-efficiency. Now I understand.

Selection traits not so important in Hawaii that are much more important on the bayou, include the following: stalk erectness until late into the season, rapid sucrose accumulation, stubbling ability (to get several seasons of growth with one planting), stalk freeze tolerance, below-ground winter survival, and early spring vigor. As stated before, it's almost like working with two entirely different crops.