Cuba is a world leader in research on sugar cane and its products, according to Peter Baron, executive secretary of the International Sugar Organization (OIA).

Baron made his statement during the International Conference on Sugar and its Derivatives, held in Havana with participants from Brazil, Spain, Mexico, Germany, Australia, Egypt, France and Indonesia, among others.

Cuba should continue sugar production, Baron commented, adding that he considered it intelligent to restructure the industry on economic and scientific/technical bases in order to reduce costs, increase competitiveness and efficiency, raise food production and develop sustainable agriculture.

The low prices of this commodity on the market (.06 cents a pound) is due to enormous stocks and reduced consumption, he explained.

Baron praised the work done by the Bagasse Research and Production Union, and Cuba’s scientific contributions to areas such as the environment, pharmaceutical and food branches and other studies.

PERSPECTIVES IN ALCOHOL

Foreign capital could participate in financing production processes for alcohol and other sugarcane derivatives, such as bagasse, as well as other activities that are developing as part of the restructuring of the sugar industry in Cuba.

According to the Cuban weekly Opciones, last year Cuba exported alcohol worth $15 million and the island’s annual production of that sugarcane derivative is as high as 1.2 million hectoliters.

The president of the sugar conference organizing committee, Luis Gálvez, stated that using alcohol as automotive fuel has a favorable outlook in sugar-producing nations.

At the event, Cuba presented a portfolio of investment opportunities for foreign capital in the sugar industry, given that capital is required for the restructuring process, a huge project of making 1.3 million hectares of land formerly dedicated to cane cultivation usable for other crops, cattle-raising and forestation.

SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION

Perspectives opened by South-South cooperation networks with respect to sugarcane derivatives were highlighted by Pablo Mandeville, a representative of the UN Development Program during the Diversification 2004 meeting in Havana.

Mandeville cited the example of the new technologies and products for the full utilization of the diverse yeasts extracted from sugar cane, which constitute an excellent source of animal feed. This project has funding from the Group of 77 Pérez Guerrero Fiduciary Fund, under the UN Development Program (UNDP), via the special South-South Cooperation unit.

Mandeville explained that the restructuring process of the sugar industry in Cuba includes a diversification project at the Paraguay agribusiness complex in Guantánamo. In this case, the economic process is accompanied by social and cultural initiatives. Donations and loans are combined for this effort, and the UNPD believes that the experience may be shared with other countries facing similar restructuring of their industries because of low sugar prices.

It was also announced that the UNDP and the Global Environmental Fund will contribute $12 million to a project for obtaining renewable energy based on the biomass derived from sugar production, such as bagasse and straw.

Mandeville said that the fund has the goal of developing initiatives for the simultaneous generation of electrical energy.

The Cuban Institute for Sugar Cane Derivatives (ICIDCA) has several projects in which the UNDP and the UN Organization for Industrial Development may participate.

Currently, the Cuba-10 project is underway, aimed at the installation and operation of a Center for Development of Industrial Fermentation and Nutrition, which will include three pilot plants for the semi-commercial production of biotechnology products derived from sugar cane.

The ICIDCA promotes the manufacture of wallpaper and paper for printing based on sugarcane bagasse, and also employs this derivative as a substitute for wood for fabricating boards. This scientific center is also developing herbicides and regulators for vegetation growth in sugarcane cultivation. (Raisa Pages)