Farmers Produce Quality Sugarcane Seed With ICAR Support

Sugarcane farmers are getting a new business opportunity through a farmer-participatory seed production programme run by ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute in Coimbatore.

The programme involves farmers in producing quality seed cane under direct supervision from scientists. It aims to address the shortage of genetically pure and disease-free planting material while giving participating farmers an assured market for the seed they produce.

Sugarcane is normally propagated through stem pieces called setts. Their quality directly affects crop establishment and later productivity.

ICAR-SBI’s programme starts with tissue-culture seedlings produced from disease-free material. Scientists test the seedlings for genetic fidelity and viruses before planting them at the institute.

The next stage produces breeder seed under scientific monitoring. These breeder seeds then go to selected farmers, who multiply the material in their own fields.

Scientists continue to monitor these fields. After about seven to eight months, the harvested seed cane goes to sugar factories according to their requirements.

The factories then multiply the material further through a three-tier nursery system before supplying it to commercial sugarcane growers.

Farmers get a premium price and assured buyers

The programme offers participating farmers several financial benefits.

Farmers receive ₹3,500 per tonne for quality seed cane. They also get exemption from harvesting charges, while the crop has a shorter duration of around six to seven months.

ICAR says the programme also provides buy-back assurance and immediate payment after harvest. These arrangements reduce some of the market risks farmers normally face after producing a crop.

The seed crop has also produced strong yields. Participating farmers have achieved an average of 40–45 tonnes of seed cane per acre within six months.

For farmers, this creates a different way to earn from sugarcane cultivation. Instead of producing only cane for crushing, they can produce planting material for other farmers.

ICAR-SBI began the farmer-participatory programme in 2016-17. Since then, it has supplied quality seed cane of several institute-developed varieties to sugar factories in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

These include Co 86032, Co 11015, Co 14012 and Co 18009, among other varieties. Between 2016-17 and 2023-24, the institute produced and supplied 9,186 tonnes of quality seed cane.

Demand has continued to grow. Cooperative and private sugar factories placed orders for 2,100 tonnes of seed cane for 2025-26.

To meet this demand, ICAR-SBI selected 10 farmers’ fields covering 32 acres. The fields were planted with 1,97,000 breeder seed setts from four varieties.

Farmers have earned ₹2.76 crore collectively

The programme has created a significant income stream for participating seed farmers.

ICAR reports that the supply of 9,186.93 tonnes of quality seed cane has generated a collective gross revenue of ₹2.76 crore for participating farmers.

This figure represents gross revenue, not profit. Farmers still incur cultivation and other production costs.

The model’s value comes from combining scientific supervision with a defined market. Farmers receive breeder material, technical guidance and monitoring, while sugar factories get access to quality planting material.

This arrangement also helps maintain the genetic purity and health of the planting material as it moves from research farms to commercial fields.

Better seed can affect the next crop

Quality planting material is one of the first requirements for establishing a healthy sugarcane crop.

Disease-infected or genetically mixed planting material can reduce crop performance and make it harder for farmers to achieve the expected yield from a variety.

The ICAR model addresses this problem by creating several stages of testing and monitoring before seed cane reaches commercial growers.

The approach also gives progressive farmers a direct role in multiplying research-developed varieties.

For sugarcane farmers, the programme offers two benefits. It strengthens the supply of quality planting material and creates a specialised income opportunity for farmers who produce seed cane.

The model shows how farmers can participate in the seed supply chain instead of remaining only at the crop-production stage.

If similar systems expand to more sugarcane-growing regions, they could help improve access to quality planting material while creating another market for participating farmers.