Progress and changes in the south Queensland variety selection program

Commercial clones released in recent years in southern Queensland have outyielded the older clones by margins of 10% or more, due to higher cane yields and higher c.c.s. Further gains will be made in the short term, and continued gains should occur in the longer term, as a result of changes in breeding and selection methods. These changes include weighing of plots in all stages of selection, the use of more sub-stations, greater emphasis on population improvement, family selection in seedling stages, the availability and use of better parents and crosses, and a reduction in the length of the selection cycle.