For a whole week, Cenicaña hosted a group of international experts who were entrusted with evaluating the Research Center, according to the global trends of the world's sugarcane agro-industries and in comparison with similar centers in other latitudes.
The evaluation was carried out between June 5 and 8, during which time the experts spoke with researchers from Cenicaña, growers and sugar mill personnel, toured the experimental station and laboratories, visited sugarcane production units and factories and distilleries of the region.
In these spaces, they learned about the latest advances in research for the development of Cenicaña Colombia varieties, developments and applications for crop management and manufacturing processes with an emphasis on sustainable practices and the strategies promoted to increase adoption and technological innovation among sugarcane growers in the valley. of the Cauca river.
The group of reviewers was made up of:
- Brenda Ortiz, Univalle agricultural engineer and PhD in Biological and Agricultural Engineering. She currently serves as a Specialist Professor of Precision Agriculture and Extension in the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences at Auburn University, Alabama, USA.
- Ross Broadfoot, is a consultant for factories in India, China, Brazil, Indonesia, Colombia, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Ecuador. Between 1971 and 2005 he was Process Group Leader at the Sugar Research Institute, Mackay, Queensland, Australia.
- Fernando Braz Tangerino Hernández, PhD in irrigation and drainage, was head of the Department of Plant Health, Rural Engineering and Soils at the Paulista State University, Brazil, and has experience in the area of agricultural engineering, with an emphasis on irrigation and drainage.
- Frederik Botha has been Executive Director of the Variety Improvement Program at Sugar Research Australia, Executive Director of the South African Sugarcane Research Institute and the Institute of Plant Biotechnology in Stellenbosch, South Africa, among others.
The exercise carried out with international experts left a series of recommendations that will improve the results of the Research Center for the sugarcane agroindustry and the region.
This external review is the third international evaluation that Cenicaña has undergone in its 45 years of existence. In 1998 Peter Jennings, William Burnquist, Don Heinz and Nills Berding were invited to review the Variety Show. In 2012, Mike Cox, Richard Flavel, Abraham Singels, Benjamin Legendre and Alvaro Melendez visited to evaluate the three Cenicaña research programs and the Technical Cooperation and Technology Transfer Service.
