Comparative Assessment of Yunnan Sun-Grow Cigar Tobacco Varieties

Abstract

Yunnan has excellent conditions for cigar planting and can produce high-quality tobacco leaves comparable to Cuban cigars. To identify new cigar varieties suitable for promotion in Yunnan's tobacco-growing areas, a total of 22 common and popular cigar varieties were selected as test materials. These included Yunxue No.1, Yunxue No.2, Yunxue No.6, Yunxue No.34, Yunxue No.36, Yunxue No.38, Yunxue No.39, Yunxue No.40, Yunxue No.41, Cuba No.1, Cuba No.2, Hai Yan No.103, Hai Yan No.204, CX14, CX26, De Xue No.4, Chuan Xue No.2, Kangzhou Broad Leaves, Yunxue No.8, De Xue No.3, Chuan Xue No.1, and Chuan Xue No.4. The experiment evaluated agronomic traits such as leaf area, leaf thickness, and chlorophyll content, as well as economic traits like leaf yield, to identify varieties suitable for cigar tobacco cultivation in Yunnan Province. The results showed that Yunxue No.41 had the largest leaf area, De Xue No.3 had the thinnest leaf thickness, and Kangzhou Broad Leaves and Yunxue No.39 had the highest chlorophyll content. Yunxue No.6 was the most prolific variety in terms of yield. These four varieties—Yunxue No.41, De Xue No.3, Kangzhou Broad Leaves, and Yunxue No.6—demonstrated the best overall performance among the 22 tested varieties. They can be used as candidate varieties for further research on supporting cultivation and processing techniques in Yunnan tobacco areas, laying a strong foundation for the future development of the Yunnan cigar industry.