55 elite sugarcane varieties among 5 Asian countries

Fifty-five elite sugarcane varities have been exchanged among five Asian countries under a United Nations-supported R&D project.

The sharing scheme is being implemented under the "CFC/ISO/20: Sugarcane Variety Improvement in Southeast Asia and the Pacific project which involves the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

CFC stands for Common Fund for Commodities (a Netherlands-based UN entity) while ISO means International Sugar Organizations.

Endorsed by ISO and funded by CFC, CFC/ISO/20 aims to increase sugarcane productivity and help long-term competitiveness of sugarcane in the region through development, dissemination, and adoption of high-yielding, pest-resistant, and ecological adapted varities.

Its executing agency is the Philippine Sugar Research Institute Foundation, Inc. (Philsurin) headed by Director General Leon Arceo. Co-implementing agency is the UP Los Baños Institute of Plant Breeding headed by Director Desiree Hautea.

Under the project, sugarcane varities received by the Philippines first undergo quarantine, yield, and adaptability trials in various parts of the country before these are distributed to planters by Philsurin.

"CFC/ISO/20 is one of the best run and best implemented CFC-funded projects," reported Eltha Brown of CFC and Lindsay Jolly of ISO during a visit to the Philippines recently. — RAF