Origin:

• Sugarcane belongs to family - Gramineae, class - monocotyledons and order - glumaceae, sub family - panicoidae, tribe - andripogoneae and sub-tribe - saccharininea.
• The cultivated canes belong to two main groups: (a) thin, hardy north Indian types S.barberi and the Chinese S.sinenses and (b) thick, juicy noble canes S.officinarum.
• Highly prized cane is S.officinarum. The origin of S.officinarum is the Indo-Myanmar China border with New Guinea as the main centre of diversity. The officinarums are called the "noble canes' due to thick, juicy, low-fibred canes of high sucrose content.
• Some of the important noble cane cultivars were Otaheita, Cheribon, Calodonia, Badila etc.
• The origin of S.robustum is New Guinea.
• The origin of S.spontaneum is subtropical India. The habitat of these two wild canes is swamps, river banks, water courses etc.
• Tropical cane (Thick cane) might have originated in New Guinea. From India it spreads probably to China, Arabia, Egypt and Sicily.