Botanical name: Saccharum officinarum L.
Family: Sugarcane belongs to the genus Saccharum in the family gramineae
Origin: Sugarcane crop is a native of India. Bhagwan Manu mentioned in his book before 1000 B.C. about sugarcane.

Sugarcane is tall perennial plant growing up to a height of 6-7 m. The plant is composed of 4 principal parts, the root system, the stalk, the leaves and the inflorescence. Sugarcane roots are fibrous and consists two types of roots, sett roots and shoot roots. The sett roots are those which develops from dormant roots of the root zone and mostly temporary. The shoot roots are produced from the base of the shoot after the buds sprout and the sett roots vanish after the shoot roots have developed. Later this process occurs progressively in upper rings of the nodes near the soil surface. Those formed first go downwards whereas those formed near the soil surface grow in the upper layer of soil provide anchorage for the plant. These roots produced from shoot are known as shoot roots. These are permanent roots and are thick, fleshy and white in colour. New roots are continuously produce form tillers. Sugarcane stem is roughly cylindrical and composed of many distinct nodes and inter nodes. It is about ground portion of the plant, which bears leaves and flowers. A small portion of the stem is below ground, which is known as rootstock. At each node, there is a bud, sometimes called as an eye appearing on opposite sides of the cane. These buds are protected by leaf sheaths, which folded tightly around the internodes. Just below the bud is a raised portion known as leaf sear a point of attachment of the leaf sheath to the stalk. Internodes of most cultivars are coated with waxy material. Sugarcane produces branches that grow below the ground of the soil. The underground portion of the stem tapers rapidly and from the lateral buds of this region the shoots develop. These are known as tillers. Single cane may produce as many as 20-40 tillers depending upon cultivars and environmental conditions. Sugarcane leaves like those of grasses are made up of the leaf blade (Lamina) and the leaf sheath. The leaf sheath possesses certain characters as mark to identify different canes such as spines or hairs on the back of the sheath, ligules a lateral extension of the sheath generally pointing upward and develop at the juncture place of sheath and lamina and the article. The lamina is usually 5-8 cm wide, 1-1.2 m long. The mid rib us usually whitish but may be reddish or purplish in some cultivars. The inflorescence of sugarcane is generally known, as the arrow is an open panicle. IT is long and tapering. The arrangement of the spikelets is racemose, that is the oldest flowers are at the bottom and the youngest at the top. The flowers open in succession over a number of days. Flowers have both male and female pollens but they are usually small and have low vitality. Sugarcane usually flowers at the age of 1-12 months but some cultivars in north India do not flower at all. Due to this fact, cane has so long been propagated vegetatively by cutting of sugarcane. Cane produce of seed is not so vigorous but it is important input for sugarcane breeds.