With reference to the current trends in the cultivation of sugarcane in India, consider the following statements:

1. A substantial saving in seed material is made when ‘bud chip settlings’ are raised in a nurse and transplanted in the main field.

2. When direct planting of setts is done, the germination percentage is better with single-budded setts as compared to setts with many buds.

3. If bad weather conditions prevail when setts are directly planted, single-budded setts have better survival as compared to large setts.

4. Sugarcane can be cultivated using settlings prepared from tissue culture.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

The correct option is 1 and 4 only.

To understand why this is the correct choice, let us analyze each statement in detail:

Statement 1 is correct: Conventional sugarcane planting is highly seed-intensive, requiring about 6 to 8 tonnes of sugarcane stalk per hectare. In contrast, the 'bud chip' technology involves cutting out only the bud along with a small portion of the nodal stalk tissue. These bud chips are raised in nurseries to develop healthy seedlings (settlings) before transplanting them into the main field. This method leads to a substantial saving of sugarcane seed material, as the remaining stalk can be sent to sugar mills for processing.

Statement 2 is incorrect: When direct planting of setts is carried out in the field, setts with multiple buds (typically 2-budded or 3-budded setts) show a better germination percentage compared to single-budded setts. This is because single-budded setts are highly vulnerable to moisture loss from their cut ends and damage by soil pathogens.

Statement 3 is incorrect: If adverse weather conditions prevail during direct planting, single-budded setts have a much lower survival rate compared to larger, multi-budded setts. The larger setts contain more stored nutrients and moisture, and have fewer cut ends per unit volume, which helps them withstand unfavorable weather conditions better.

Statement 4 is correct: Tissue culture is a biotechnology technique used to propagate sugarcane plants. It helps in the rapid multiplication of disease-free, genetically uniform, and high-quality planting material. Settlings prepared from tissue culture are successfully transplanted and cultivated in fields.