RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER STRATEGIES FOR THE NEXT DECADE—AN INDIAN EXAMPLE

By M.C. GOPINATHAN 

E. I. D. Parry (India) Ltd.,
Research & Development Centre,
145, Devanahalli Road, Off Old Madras Road,
Bangalore 560 049, India
GopinathanMC@parry.murugappa.com

KEYWORDS: Sugarcane, Research, Innovation,
Technology Transfer, Parry Way.

Abstract

GLOBALISATIONis driving unprecedented, radical internal and external reforms in sugar
industries across the world.
In addition to this, five major emerging or intensifying forces with extraordinary
implications will shape sugarcane farming and the sugar industry in future—demographic,
economical, socio-political, environmental and technological.
This paper first addresses the growth and status of the sugar industry and impact of
these emerging forces in shaping future Indian sugarcane farming.
Emerging complexities and diversities in farming structure and process demand a
new and more complex model of research and technology transfer.
Consolidation of the best technologies for maximum exploitation, identification of
technology diffusion and adoption gaps, and introduction of new technologies and innovative
practices throughout the farming chain will continue to play a vital role in sugarcane
productivity improvements.
Demographic changes, socioeconomic status of farmers and prices for competing
crops will demand sugar companies provide, in addition to competitive cane price, targeted
delivery of diverse services to farmers to ensure a sustainable cane supply.
Introduction of new sustainability standards and the need for certification from
consumers will drive sugar companies to integrate the entire value chain from farmer to
consumer through various forms of cooperation, relationship and partnership.
These emerging realities will open up untapped potentials and utilise opportunities
throughout the value chain to create a new research and technology transfer architecture and
competitive landscape for the sugar industry in India.

Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., Vol. 27, 2010 www.issct.org

Indian sugar industry - a strong industrial base for rural India

Pandey, Adya Prasad (2007): Indian sugar industry - a strong industrial base for rural India. Forthcoming in:

PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader 364Kb

Abstract

Indian sugar industry, second largest agro-based processing industry afte the cotton textiles industry in country, has a lion's share in accelerating industrialization process and bringing socio-economic changes in under developed rural areas. Sugar industry covers around 7.5% of total rural population and provides employment to 5 lakh rural people. About 4.5 crore farmers are engaged in sugarcane cultivation in Inda. Sugar mills (cooperative, private, and public) have been instrumental in initiating a number of entrepreneurial activities in rural India. Present paper is an attempt as to review progress of sugar industry in India, understand it's problems and challenges in context of ongoing liberalization process. Indian sugar industry can be a global leader provided it comes out of the vicious cycle of shortage and surplus of sugarcane, lower sugarcane yield, lower sugar recovery, ever increasing production costs and mounting losses. It needs quality management at all levels of activity to enhance productivity and production. Attention is required on cost minimization and undertaking by product processing activities.

Source :http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/6065/

SUGARCANE RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER—STRATEGIES FOR THE NEXT DECADE

By
ALVARO AMAYA
Colombian Sugarcane Research Center, CENICANA, Cali, Colombia
aamaya@cenicana.org

KEYWORDS: Research Challenges,
Multidisciplinary Research, Sustainability.

Abstract

AGRONOMICchallenges required for the decades ahead will focus on:
(1)  research and technology transfer based on multidisciplinary approaches;
(2)  a transition from production-oriented models to consumer-driven systems;
and
(3)  developments that promote sustainability and concerns for environmental
issues.
A multidisciplinary approach ensures that scientists, growers and factory engineers
are aware of the contributions of other disciplines, rather than isolated, individual efforts.
This requires not a narrowly focused ‘specialist’, but rather someone with a ‘special’ interest
in various disciplines, whose wide vision could make integrated contributions to developing a
true Renaissance in sugar industries. The transition to a consumer-driven model requires the
identification of new priorities.
Technologies for sugar production will remaina priority, but greater emphasis must
be directed towards technologies for using sugarcane for energy production and for value-added products. In the case of energy production, the use of sugarcane has been possible
because of the availability of proven technologies, interest from investors, government
regulation and consumer demand. For value-added products, the challenge for scientists lies
not just in concrete researchoutputs, as has been the case for sugar production. Their skills
for knowledge management and the vision to transfer their achievements, open new markets
and generate interest in funding new research must be strengthened. Sustainability and
environmental protection will continue playing a role in future research, both in the field and
in factory processes. Climate change is on the agenda of challenges that agronomists and
their allied specialists must address in the design and managementof future production
systems.
The prospective use of sugarcane as a source of bioenergy to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions to the atmosphere offers an opportunity for scientists, investors and consumers to

work together on sustainability and environmental protection. Research achievements and
projections in the sugar industry worldwide, reported in the literature as well as by the
Colombian sugar industry, are usedto illustrate these strategies.

 http://www.issct.org.

Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., Vol. 27, 2010

Application of dextranases in sugarcane factory: overcoming practical problems

http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=243463


Authors 

	Eggleston, Gillian
	Monge, Adrian -
	Montes, Belisario -
	Stewart, David -

Interpretive Summary: This paper reviews practical problems frequently faced when enzymes (compounds that speed-up a reaction) are added to industrial processes. This is done by highlighting the application of dextranases (enzymes that break down dextran, an unwanted large chain sugar) in the U.S. sugar industry. Practical application of enzymes to usually harsh industrial process conditions is still often problematic, and ways to improve the optimization of dextranase are described. These include measuring the activity of destranases at the factory to economically compare different commercial enzymes, applying the enzymes as a working solution prepared at the factory with water, and heating sugarcane juice. Finally, the short and long-term outlooks are discussed.

Technical Abstract: Dextranases only have a small market and low volume sales compared to many other industrial enzymes. Consequently, research and development efforts to engineer tailormade properties of destranases to specific conditions of industrial processes have not occurred and are not expected soon. This book chapter highlights the difficulties associated with the practical application of dextranases that are sometimes applied to break down dextran polysaccharide in sugar manufacture when bacterial deterioration of sugarcane or sugarbeet has occurred. Application sub-optimization existed because of misinformation about where to add the destranase in the factory/refinery and which commercial dextranase to use. The wide variation in activities of commercially available dextransases in the U.S., and a standardized titration method to measure activities at the factory are discussed. Optimization by applying "concentrated" dextranases as temporary working solutions to heated juice is described. Promising short-term technologies to further improve industrial dextranase applications are discussed, as well as the long-term outlook.

Submitted to: Sugar Tech 
Publication Type: Review Article 
Publication Acceptance Date: April 20, 2009 
Publication Date: July 15, 2009 
Repository URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10113/43790 
Citation: Eggleston, G., Monge, A., Montes, B., Stewart, D. 2009. Application of dextranases in sugarcane factory: overcoming practical problems. Sugar Tech. 11(2):135-141.

New Developments in Information Technologies

By Weiss, L.W. 

Sugars International LLC, 30 Glenmoor Dr., Englewood, Colorado 80113 USA
E-mail: WWeiss@SugarsOnline.com

Abstract 

The development of Extensible Markup Language (XML) is leading to new inter-application communication that will provide more flexibility for software utilization in an
enterprise. Initially, XML data is passed between programs in a manual asynchronous
manner for programs that do not need continuous interaction; for example, importing
factory data into the Sugars modeling program to provide on demand heat, material and
color balances along with the net process revenues for the factory. In the future, Web
services can be used to provide synchronous or asynchronous interactions using Web
Services Description Language (WSDL) and SOAP for message passing in a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) to provide interactive communications and functionality
between software applications used by a sugar company.

www.sugarsonline.com/SugarsPapers/ISJ_NewDevInIT-2005.pdf

Measuring Starch in the Raw Sugar Factory

Marianne McKee, Ronnie Triche, Mary An Godshall and Charley Richard 

Sugar Processing Research Institute, Inc., New Orleans, LA 70124

ABSTRACT

Starch is a polysaccharide that arrives at the raw sugar factory in the sugarcane plant. It is released from the plant during the milling or diffusion stage of sugarcane processing.  After release into cane juice, starch in high concentrations can cause problems inside the raw factory as well as being carried into the raw sugar and subsequently into the refinery process.  If starch is present in raw sugar in concentrations of approximately 250 ppm or higher, problems arise during refining.  These include filterability issues, higher phosphate levels in clarified liquor using phosphatation refining, and poor filterability after clarification in carbonatation refining.  Many methods exist for measuring starch in raw sugars, but no standard method is in use throughout the international sugar industry.  These methods, while oftentimes very accurate, are not rapid and not well suited for use in the raw sugar factory laboratory.  Sugar Processing Research Institute (SPRI) has developed a simple, rapid, and quantitative starch test for use with cane juice and raw cane sugar samples.  The time required to complete the analysis of the SPRI Rapid Starch Method is 15-20 minutes and multiple samples can be analyzed at once.  Very small amounts of reagents are required and the equipment needed is usually readily available in most mill laboratories.  This paper will discuss starch and problems it can cause in cane sugar processing from raw sugar factory and refinery perspectives,  the SPRI rapid starch method details, equipment requirements, and the analysis of mixed cane juice, clarified cane juice, and raw sugar samples.

Abstract for an oral presentation at the American Society of Sugar Cane Technologists - ASSCT 41ST Annual Joint Meeting – June 8-10, 2011 at the Sheraton New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

http://www.spriinc.org/homepg1c0103.html

Refined Sugar – What Is It? What Does it Need to Be for Your Application?

Mary An Godshall, 

Sugar Processing Research Institute, Inc., 1100 Robert E. Lee Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70124, USA

ABSTRACT

We all have a “pretty good” idea of what is refined sugar, but there are various definitions, specifications, contracts and standards in the marketplace. Refined sugar is one of the purest commercial products available, yet the many specifications for various quality parameters indicates that even such a very pure product may cause an issue when it is used in a food formulation.  The quality of refined sugar can be affected by minute (ppm) quantities of various constituents, such as color, turbidity, dextran, ash, moisture, odor, flavor, residual sulfur dioxide or sediment.  It may have floccing potential or carried over amylase.  The crystal size and uniformity may be a critical factor.  Each one of these components can cause a particular quality problem in one or another food or beverage.  However, not in all foods.  Therefore, the question is – what are the quality aspects that specifically affect your product, and do you have to worry about certain other ones? 

This presentation, part of a workshop, will review quality criteria of refined sugar and describe how various parameters may affect or not affect certain food applications of refined sugar. 

Abstract for an oral presentation at the SPRI 2012 Conference – March 11-14, 2012 at the Chateau Bourbon Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

http://www.spriinc.org/homepg1c0103.html

IRON MEDIATED CLARIFICATION AND DECOLOURISATION OF SUGARCANE JUICE

By 

L.R. MADSEN II and D.F. DAY 

Louisiana State University Agricultural Center 

Audubon Sugar Institute, St. Gabriel, La. 70776 

Lmadsen@agctr.lsu.edu

KEYWORDS: Colour, Removal, 

Clarification, Iron. 

Abstract 

IN ORDER TOoperate most profitably, the sugar producers in Louisiana wish to engage in a
cooperative arrangement with the sugar refineries. Because the sugar refinery is an industrial scale decolouriser that operates using natural gas as fuel, it makes sense that sugar with less colour, produced using bagasse-power, would likely have greater profit margins.
The removal of phenolic colorants from raw juice using native cane protein as a
vehicle and Fe3+as an oxidative catalyst was studied. Colour was removed as phenol-protein
conjugates which rapidly precipitated with the addition of a cationic flocculant. The decanted juice was clarified via cold-liming. The treatment yielded clarified juice with up to 70% lower colour than hot-liming juice. It appears that the phenolics were oxidised by Fe3+ which engaged a REDOX cycle
yielding quinoid species. The free N-ε-amino groups of lysine in the albuminoid proteins appeared to add to the quinones. Stoichiometry indicated a degree of polymerisation of eight. Oligomer formation
ceased at this length which appeared sufficient tofacilitate irreversible cross-linking and/or capping of the protein. The aggregates of iron, lignol(s) and protein were insoluble and precipitated. The process was tested in a 150 L settling clarifier which was operated in both pulsed and continuous modes. The method scaled well and the product juice exhibited 50–60% less colour than a cold-limed control when Fe3+ was applied in quantities ranging from 100–200 mg/L
.
Factory Processing Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., Vol. 27, 2010

www.atamexico.com.mx/PDF/Abstract.pdf

THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF SUGAR

By P.W. REIN

Louisiana State University
Consultant to Better Sugarcane Initiative, United Kingdom
peterein@gmail.com

KEYWORDS: Carbon Footprint, Energy,
Sugarcane, Sugar, Ethanol.

Abstract

CLIMATE change is rapidly becoming a serious issue and one which will increasingly demand
the attention of sugar producers.
Estimation of the greenhouse gas emissions in the production of sugar, otherwise
known as the carbon footprint, is an essential part of any sustainability study.
A method of estimating net energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions has been
developed, based initially onwork done on biofuels.
The calculation routine was developed for use in the Better Sugarcane Initiative
standards, which focus on the sustainability of the sugarcane industry.
This estimation procedure estimates primary energy requirements including both
direct effects, mainly energy usage, and indirect effects, which include energy used in the
production of fuels, fertilisers and chemicals. Allowance is also made for the inclusion of
direct land use change effects.
The estimation procedure allows for the production of molasses and/or ethanol, and
for the export of power. Attention is given to the potential errors and problems in arriving at
these estimates.
The main problems are uncertainties in emissions from fertiliser use and the way in
which emissions are allocated to co-products. The results show that the carbon footprint is
most affected by sugarcane yield, sugar recovery, fertiliser usage, irrigation, cane burning and
power export.
A factory set up efficiently for maximum power generation can show a negative
carbon footprint and, in this respect, maximum export of electric power can deliver a lower
carbon footprint than maximum ethanol production.
The calculation routine estimates the greenhouse gas emissions from field to factory
gate and can be used for an existing operation orin the design of a new project to assist in
making good sustainability choices.

Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., Vol. 27, 2010
www.atamexico.com.mx/PDF/Abstract.pdf

The Advantages of Mechanical Clarification in Sugar Processing,

Marianne McKee, Ronnie Triche, Mary An Godshall, and Charley Richard, 
Sugar Processing Research Institute, Inc., New Orleans, LA, USA

ABSTRACT

Juice purification in sugar processing is known as clarification.  In this step of sugar processing, soluble and insoluble non-sucrose constituents are removed from raw juices.  Traditional clarification includes lime addition and heating of the juice in both sugarbeet and sugarcane processing.  In the sugarcane industry, anionic flocculants are used in addition to lime and heat to improve clarification or purification of the juice.  The sugarbeet industry uses carbonation in addition to lime and heat to purify the raw beet juice.  In this paper, we will examine mechanical clarification as a means to improve the quality of juice during sugar processing and further improve clarification.  Clarified and filtered juice samples were collected at a raw sugar factory equipped with Mecat Turbofilters (SF300) to improve the quality of clarified juice. These samples were analyzed for several quality parameters including pH, color, turbidity, ash, total polysaccharides, and starch.  In addition to these results, sediment and size of the particles in traditional clarified juice and filtered juice samples will be discussed. 

Abstract for an oral presentation at the SPRI 2012 Conference – March 11-14, 2012 at the Chateau Bourbon Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

http://www.spriinc.org/homepg1c0103.html

SUCROSE LOSS IN STORAGE OF GREEN BILLET CANE

M. SASKA, S.L. GOUDEAU and I. DINU
Audubon Sugar Institute, Louisiana State University Agriculture Centre,
St. Gabriel, Louisiana, USA
msaska@agcenter.lsu.edu

 http://www.atamexico.com.mx/PDF/Abstract.pdf

KEYWORDS: Sugarcane, Loss,
Deterioration, Temperature, Storage.

Abstract

SUCROSE lost during storage of green billet cane was measured for different storage times
and temperatures; in cane that was hand-cleaned before storage (2007) and in (normal) cane
used just as delivered by combines (2008).
The storage conditions were characterised by the time (hours) of storage within four
temperature ranges: <17 17="17" 22="22" and="and">27°C, representing cold, cool, moderate
and warm storage conditions.
Within the four ranges, the sucrose loss in normal cane was 0.08, 0.13, 0.27 and
0.32% of the initial sucrose per hour; or an increase in the rate of sucrose loss of about 0.03%
initial sucrose per hour per each °C temperature rise.
Probably because of the higher enzymatic activity in tops and leaves, the losses in
hand-cleaned cane were lower.
Based on the developed equations, total sucrose loss in cane storage at a 10 000 t/day
factory was estimated to be 1200 t in one eighty-day season.
The temperature within cane stored in a factory cane yard and cane trailers was
measured. Cane stored in trailers was found to cool overnight (6 pm to 6 am) on average by
0.3°C /h but the temperature of cane stored in piles increased by about 0.1°C/h.
This was interpreted as evidence of substantial heat generation during cane storage.
However, based on the measured overnight temperature profiles, it was concluded that the
difference in sucrose loss between storage in trailers and cane piles alone is not large enough
to justify conversion to trailers-only storage.
 
Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., Vol. 27, 2010