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Sugarcane is a tall perennial grass of genus Saccharum. Plant remnants and DNA evidence
suggest that sugar cane evolved in South East Asia (Horton et al., 2015), and it was
domesticated in Papua New Guinea around 8000 BC (Hartemink and Kuniata 1996). Over the
years, the crop has been distributed in other parts of the world including India, China, Europe,
Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, South America, North America and Africa by seafarers,
traders, crusaders, colonialists and missionaries (Fischer et al., 2008).Sugar cane performs well
in tropical and subtropical climates. The most common cultivated species are S. officinarum L.,
S. barberi, S. sinense and S. edule. Morphologically, the plant is tall, erecting up to 5 or 6 m
with multiple stems, normally branching at the base to make tillers. It is composed of four
parts: roots, stalk, leaves and efflorescence (DSD, 2013). |
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