Initial research on sugarcane
The research activities on sugarcane in the Cauca Valley began institutionally in 1930 with the initiation of the Sugarcane Program at the Experiment Station of the Colombian Agricultural and Livestock Institute (ICA) in Palmira.

In the decade of the forties the sugar mills began research-experimentation activities; after 1955, they established cooperative agreements with the Sugarcane Program at ICA.

Interest in private research
In 1964 the Castilla and Riopaila sugar mills proposed to the Board of Directors of ASOCAÑA that the sugar industry have its own sugarcane research institute. The proposal was supported by 7 out of 20 sugar mills that operated at that time. Although the declaration remained open so that other sugar mills could join, this did not happen.

In 1970, given the general interest of the sugar industry in technological innovation, ASOCAÑA contracted a study with the British firm Brooker Agricultural and Technical Services to explore the possibility of obtaining their services to expand private-sector research on sugarcane in the Cauca Valley. The firm proposed a research plan that emphasized crossing and selecting varieties, plant nutrition and physiology, soil physics and the application of agricultural engineering to prepare the lands, water management, machinery and pests. This proposal did not come to fruition.

Crisis in the sector
In 1973 ICA decided to end its Sugarcane Program at its Palmira experiment station. Although they had intensified the cooperative programs with the sugar mills, there were few effective linkages between the program and industry and little recognition of ICA’s work. Moreover, throughout its existence, the program had been affected by a chronic lack of resources?both technical and financial?which seriously limited its capacity to function.

In the mid-seventies the Cauca Valley was afflicted by a long dry period, which reduced cane production considerably, and it was necessary to import sugar. The adverse climate and other negative factors led the industry to a serious crisis. The world price for raw sugar underwent a considerable fall, going from US$0.30 in 1974 to US$0.08 in 1977.

The sector’s effort to progress
Given the situation of the industry and upon the initiative of the Executive President of ASOCAÑA, Rodrigo Escobar Navia, the Association commissioned the Foundation for Higher Education and Development (FEDESARROLLO) to study the sugar and panela industry in Colombia. The outcome of that study was the proposal to create a sugar and panela fund; a national research, training and technical advisory center; and a national panela center. ASOCAÑA placed all its efforts into implementing the recommendations made by FEDESARROLLO and create a sugarcane research center in Colombia.

Sugar policy
In 1977, ASOCAÑA proposed to the President of the Republic of Colombia, Alfonso López Michelsen, the need for a comprehensive and coherent sugar policy that would be stable in the long term, as well as the creation of a National Sugar Commission that would analyze and make recommendations to the national government regarding that policy. The Commission was created on 23 May of that year, and soon afterwards, the Commission created the National Sugar and Panela Fund (FONAZUCAR). The Fund was given specific functions with respect to the development of the sugar and panela industry, including the financing of diverse forms of research. It was agreed to finance the Fund with 4% of the value of the sugar sales on the national market and destine 10% of the total (that is, 0.4% of the sugar sales on the domestic market) to finance the Sugarcane Research Center.