CTC to have new varieties of disease-resistant productive sugarcane
Valor Econômico
The Sugarcane Technology Center (CTC, in Portuguese), headquartered in Piracicaba (SP), will release to the market two new varieties of conventional, more productive and disease-resistant sugarcane this year. These cultivars, named CTC 19 and CTC 20, are part of the fifth generation of new varieties developed by the company.
CTC 19 has its productivity peak commencing in June, period of peak of the harvest of the sugarcane in the Center and South of the country. CTC 20, on its turn, has its best performance between March and April, beginning of the harvest in the same region, affirmed Tadeu Andrade, CTC research and development director. "It is the first time in the CTC history that we have developed varieties with high productivity level. CTC 19's performance is 11% superior to those of the most traditional varieties used on field. CTC 20, on its turn, gets to 38% compared to its competitors", he said. The CTC has researched for 12 years before launching these two varieties.
Since September/2004, when it started operating autonomously, breaking free from Copersucar, its former controlling company, the CTC placed 20 varieties of sugarcane in the market, all of them named CTC. During the management of Copersucar, 67 varieties were launched. In the last years, the CTC invested nearly US$ 4 million a year on research and development. "We have the largest germplasm bank in the world concerning the sugarcane", he affirmed.
This year, the CTC announced two important partnerships, one with Dow and another with Basf, on research of genetically modified sugarcane. With Dow, the company entered into a partnership for the development of sugarcane varieties resistant to the sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis). This pest causes damages to the sugarcane fields of nearly R$ 1 billion (US$ 556 million) a year. With Basf, on its turn, the company researches drought-resistant sugarcane varieties.