Response of Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) Varieties to BAP and Kinetin on in vitro Shoot Multiplication

 In vitro shoot multiplication of two commercial sugarcane varieties grown in Ethiopian sugar estates initiated using shoot tip explants was carried out with the objective to assess the multiplication responses of the sugarcane varieties (B41-227 and N14) under five levels of 6-benzylaminopurine (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 mgL^-1) and kinetin (0, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, and 1 mgL^-1) in a completely randomized design with 5 x 5 x 2 factorial treatment combinations arrangements. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the interaction effects of  BAP, kinetin and the sugarcane genotypes on number of shoots per explant, average shoot length and number of leaves per shoot was very highly significant (P < 0.0001). Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium fortified with 1 mgL^-1 BAP and 0.5 mgL^-1 kinetin for B41-227; and 2 mgL^-1 BAP without kinetin for N14 were found to give optimum shoot proliferation results. On these medium, B41-227 gave 34 ± 1.54 shoots per explant with 6.95 ± 0.01cm average shoot length and 12 ± 0.17 leaves per shoot while N14 produced 21 ± 0.58 shoots per explant with 5.63 ± 0.01 cm average shoot length and 5.4 ± 00 leaves per shoot after 30 days of culture transfer to multiplication medium. Thus, the optimized protocol is useful for rejuvenation, rapid in vitro propagation and production of large quantity quality sugarcane planting materials and hence help minimizes the major limitations hampering sugarcane production in the Ethiopian sugar Estates.