A sugarcane field day will be hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Research (AgriLife) on Oct. 8 in Weslaco from 9 a.m. until noon, according to AgriLife Today.
“The emphasis of this year’s sugarcane field day will be to provide information to growers and the public about the many advances and progress we have made in our sugarcane breeding program, thanks to new crossing facilities recently constructed at our annex farm (in Weslaco),” said Dr. Jorge da Silva, AgriLife sugarcane breeder. “We’ll be discussing the advances we’ve made in breeding sugarcane for both bioenergy and sugar.”
Sugarcane is one of the oldest commercial crops in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Until recently, breeding crosses have not been made to improve sugarcane varieties that are better adapted to local growing conditions. The crosses involved sugarcane with sugarcane, sugarcane with grain sorghum and sugarcane with wild cane.
For more information, contact da Silva at 956-968-5585 or email jadasilva@tamu.edu.