Characterisation of Orchards and Diseases of Sugar Cane (Saccharum Officinaruml.) in Cote D'ivoire: Case of Sugar Complexes of Borotoukoro and Zuenoula

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.)is a plant whose cultivation is very widespread in the world because of its importance in terms of food, economic and energy. It is a perennial grass from the Poaceae family. It is generally grown in tropical and subtropical regions, mainly for the exploitation of sugar (sucrose) contained in its stems. Indeed, the latter can have a saccharin richness of up to 19% each (Péné et al., 2012). World sugar consumption is growing continuously, hence the need for increased sugar production. For example, the 2021-2022 sugar season ended with sugar production of 184.4 Mt, up 2.5 Mtfrom the previous year (FranceAgriMer, 2022). Apart from beets and sweeteners, sugarcane alone accounts for 80% of global sugar production (FAOSTAT, 2018). In Côte d'Ivoire, its cultivation is carried out by two private companies (SUCAF-CIand SUCRIVOIRE) on a distribution area of more than 25,000 ha located in the north and central-west of the country (Kouamé et al., 2009). According to Traoré et al., (2019), the country is ranked 53rd world and 16th African. Cane production amounts to about 330,000 t of sugar, or 50% of consumption in the WAEMU (West African Economic and Monetary Union). In the medium term, the WAEMU market offers good development prospects for Ivorian sugar companies (Kouamé et al., 2009). Despite its socio-economic importance, the cultivation of sugarcane in Côte d'Ivoire, its culture faces biotic constraints due to viruses, stem-boring insects such as Eldana saccharinaWalker, bacteria such as Xanthomonas albilineans and fungi such as Sporisorium scitamineum, responsible for anthrax (Kouamé et al., 2010). On the other hand, it faces a decline in biological soil fertility due to monoculture sugarcane farming practices carried out for more than 30 years in the various sugar complexes (Mauboussin, 1988; Marion, 2000). All these factors playa very important role in lowering sugarcane yields in the country’ssugar complexes (Péné et al., 2012). In the sugar complexes of Borotoukoro and Zuenoula, producers are confronted with various diseases of fungal, viral and bacterial origin. These diseases may have a negative impact on the yield of the canned crop in Côte d'Ivoire. As part of a study for the development of a bacterial biocontrol agent against these diseases, The aim of this study was to collect sociodemographic data on sugarcane producers and to identify the pathologies encountered in these orchards.