Farmers Advised to Adopt High-Yielding Sugarcane Varieties Co 18009, Co 11015 and Co 14012 at ICAR-SBI Field Day in Coimbatore
21 March 2026, Coimbatore: Farmers were encouraged to adopt high-yielding sugarcane varieties ‘Co 18009’, ‘Co 11015’, and ‘Co 14012’ during a Field Day organised by the ICAR–Sugarcane Breeding Institute (ICAR-SBI), Coimbatore, in collaboration with Bannari Amman Sugars Ltd. at Kanjappalli village in Annur taluk.
The programme highlighted the field performance of the newly released mid-late maturing variety ‘Co 18009’. Addressing farmers and extension officials, Dr. P. Govindaraj, Director, ICAR-SBI, emphasised the need to replace older, low-performing varieties with improved high-yielding options such as ‘Co 18009’, ‘Co 11015’, and ‘Co 14012’. He noted that ageing varieties are increasingly affected by declining productivity, higher disease incidence, and reduced profitability, making varietal replacement essential for sustaining farm incomes.
He further highlighted labour scarcity as a growing concern in sugarcane cultivation and stressed the need to mechanise nearly 75% of farming operations. Dr. Govindaraj also informed that the Institute plans to actively involve farmers in the varietal development process to ensure better adaptability and faster adoption of improved varieties. Seed material of ‘Co 18009’ along with technical literature was distributed to farmers during the event.
S. Shanmugasundaram, Vice-President, Bannari Amman Sugars Ltd., outlined various subsidy schemes offered by the company to support farmers and encouraged the development of more early-maturing and region-specific high-yielding sugarcane varieties.
Earlier, the Principal Scientist of ICAR-SBI explained that the Field Day aimed to gather farmer feedback on ‘Co 18009’, demonstrated on a 1.9-acre plot managed by an enterprising woman farmer. He noted that sugarcane cultivation in Coimbatore district currently covers around 940 acres, with an estimated production of 38,000 tonnes, and expressed confidence that such initiatives would help revive farmer interest in high-yielding sugarcane cultivation.
Participants visited the Frontline Demonstration (FLD) plot cultivated by Nivedha Duraisamy, who shared her experience with the 11-month-old crop. She highlighted key traits of ‘Co 18009’, including its non-flowering nature, low spininess, high tillering capacity, greater number of internodes, and strong yield potential, making it a promising choice for farmers.
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