Sugarcane Vitroplant Project of the Obispo Colombres Agroindustrial Experimental Station (EEAOC, Tucumán, Argentina): production of healthy plantles at the laboratory

DIAZ, ME; PAZ, N; INSAURRALDE ROCCO, P; PERERA, M. F.; CASTAGNARO, AP; NOGUERA, AS

Congreso; ISSCT XXX Congress; 2019

The Vitroplantas Project was started by Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres in 2001. Its main goal is to provide sugarcane producers with seed cane of high phytosanitary quality and genetic purity. Since its beginning, improvements in the process such as molecular techniques for diseases diagnosis and assessment of genetic purity, have been incorporated. Until 2004 the Vitroplantas sanitary evaluation for two systemic diseases was carried out by serological techniques. However, since 2005, molecular diagnoses based on PCR have been optimized by the Biotechnology Section of EEAOC for the five most regionally important systemic diseases of sugarcane. In 2014, the genetic identity analysis of Vitroplants undertaken since 2007 with AFLP was replaced by TRAP since it was cheaper and revealed similar polymorphisms. Recently, a Quality Management System, which allows effective administration and increased the efficiency at each step of the micropropagation process, was implemented. Over the 2001-2017 period, 14 commercial and promising sugarcane cultivars were micropropagated, reaching a total of 1,094,131 Vitroplantas. Currently, around 70% of the area under cultivation in Tucumán is occupied by high quality sugarcane seeds produced by the Vitroplantas Project, resulting in lower disease incidence and a gradual increase in yields in commercial fields. This Project has constantly looked at improving the process, to develop new techniques and to produce a sustainable final product able to satisfy sugarcane producers? demands.