also: かんしゃ
noun
sugar cane
Refers to the plant Saccharum officinarum, cultivated for sugar production.
沖縄では甘蔗の栽培が盛んです。
Sugar cane cultivation is thriving in Okinawa.
甘蔗から砂糖を作ります。
Sugar is made from sugar cane.
砂糖黍 is the more common word for sugar cane in modern Japanese; 甘蔗 is a formal or technical term.
From Chinese 甘蔗 (gānzhè), meaning sugar cane. The reading かんしょ is the go-on reading, while かんしゃ is the kan-on reading.