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.

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