Sugarcane is a major world crop supplying sugar and energy. This
highly efficient crop from the grass family is grown in tropical and
subtropical environments globally. The genome of modern cultivated
sugarcane is large and complex originating from hybrids between
two wild polyploid relatives, Saccharum officinarum and Saccharum
spontaneum. This chapter introduces a volume that describes the
genetics and genomics of sugarcane and consequences for sugarcane
breeding.
Keywords: Sugarcane production, importance