All sugarcane species interbreed and the major commercial cultivars are complex hybrids primarily involving crosses between the species Saccharum officinarum L. and S. spontaneum L. Sugar cane provides around 80% of the world’s sugar. It yields the highest number of calories per unit area of cultivation of any plant.

Some sugarcane varieties are capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen in association with the bacterium Glucoacetobacter diazotrophicus. Unlike legumes and other nitrogen fixing plants that form root nodules in the soil in association with bacteria, G. diazotrophicus lives within the intercellular spaces of the sugarcane's stem.

Keywords:

Sugar, fuel, animal feed, beverage, building material, Poaceae.

Jalosokeriruoko – Saccharum officinarum