INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT AT ISSCT CENTENNIAL CONGRESS
Colleen Dardagan
Colombian conference demonstrates innovation, technology and the role of young professionals as imperatives for more sustainable sugar industries in the future.
Above, from left: SA Canegrowers’ Industry Affairs Manager, Dr Muhammad Kadwa discusses the South African industry at the recent ISSCT Congress in Colombia. MIDDLE: From left, SA Canegrowers’ Research Manager, Ikageng Maluleke, SA Canegrowers’ Manager Innovation & Technology, Michelle Binedell, SA Canegrowers’ Board representative, Graeme Stainbank at the 100th ISSCT Congress in Colombia. RIGHT: SA Canegrowers’ Board representative, Graeme Stainbank on a field visit in Colombia’s Cauca Valley.
The success of South Africa’s sugarcane producing industry hinges on aggressively adopting technology to improve efficacy while actively working to significantly reduce the sector’s environmental impact.
The 100-year International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists’ (ISSCT) Congress was held recently in the city of Cali, in Colombia’s subtropical Cauca Valley. The theme for the 2025 event centred on sugarcane research over the past century.
SA Canegrowers’ delegates who attended the four-day event heard how Colombia’s industry produces 322 000 tons of biofertilisers made from vinasse – the liquid residue left after fermentation of sugarcane to produce ethanol – 80 million m3 of biomethane, 406 million litres of bioethanol, while supplying 13 cogeneration plants with 1 876GWh of renewable energy each year.
Prospering sugar industry
Dr Muhammad Kadwa who is the Industry Affairs Manager at SA Canegrowers and the head of the South African Sugar Technologists’ Association (SASTA), said the congress highlighted how that country had advanced its research, development and enterprise programmes to embrace production diversification and more environmentally responsible methodologies in its industry. “Brazil often gets the focus, but Columbia has a well-established and prospering sugar industry. Their research institutes are among the best in the world. There is much we can learn from them,” Kadwa said.
This year’s congress, he added, had reinforced how the South African industry must embrace digital agriculture, re-focus on innovative research and development and attract young people into technical and decision-making roles.
The keynote address at the conference titled Global challenges and opportunities in the sugarcane agro-industrial sector: lessons from Colombia, by Freddy Garcés, Executive Director of Cenicaña (the Colombian Sugarcane Research Centre), detailed how that country’s sugarcane agro-industry had become a global model of sustainability, productivity and innovation. “They have achieved these goals via strong collaboration between millers, growers and their research institutions,” Kadwa said.
Comparing the two industries, sugarcane was first planted in Colombia 160 years ago, the country now has 240 000ha under cultivation and has integrated advanced genetics, precision agriculture and digital technologies to boost efficiency. Colombia has 15 sugar mills.
In South Africa, sugarcane was first planted for commercial purposes more than 170 years ago. More than 350 000has are now under cultivation. While there is some adoption of drone and irrigation among other technologies in the field, little progress has been made on co-generated energy or bio-fuel production. South Africa has 14 mills.
“Colombia’s circular economy approach diversifies production into sugar, bioethanol, electricity, compost and paper, while reducing carbon emissions and promoting green harvesting,” Kadwa said.
Industry alignment
Environmental initiatives, Kadwa added, were shown to have restored ecosystems, conserved biodiversity and improved water management. “By aligning science, technology and community development, the Colombian sugar industry demonstrated how an agro-industry can be both competitive and sustainable. Their sugar industry is addressing global challenges such as climate change, food security and energy efficiency,” he added.
The SA Canegrowers’ delegation included members from both the board and the staff with Michelle Binedell – SA Canegrowers’ Manager Innovation & Technology - presenting a paper titled The Value of Communities of Practice within the sugarcane value chain – a case study of SUSFARMS® in South Africa, while Kadwa presented a poster titled Disaster struck: a case study of structure, communication and data collection from South African sugarcane growers and a research paper headed, A simple economic sensitivity analysis of nitrogen applications rates: a case study using ratoon trials under irrigated and rainfed conditions in South Africa.
Newly appointed Research Manager at SA Canegrowers, Ikageng Maluleke presented research compiled by her predecessor, Richard Nicholson titled, Grower economic data the key to lobbying for grower financial sustainability in times of industry uncertainty and high input costs.
Maluleke said the biggest lesson from the Colombian sugar industry was how true industry resilience comes from integrated and collective alignment across the entire value chain. “In Colombia, growers, millers, research bodies and industry associations work together in a highly coordinated way. This harmonises decision-making, seamless technology transfer and a unified voice in policy engagement.”
She said the message was clear, “This collective approach directly strengthens the industry’s ability to adapt to market shifts and environmental challenges. Their successful expansion into ethanol, for example, was made possible by clear government blending mandates and supportive energy policies,” Maluleke said.
Digitalisation a driver
Michelle Binedell said discussions were heavily focused on improving efficiency in sugar and biofuel production equally. “A major highlight was the concept of “creating wealth from waste” which emphasised maximising value from all sugarcane byproducts.
Digitalisation, she said, was presented as the crucial driver for optimising everything from field operations to factory processes, ultimately leading to greater profitability and better management.
Prior to the start of the congress, the delegations enjoyed technical visits to selected sugar mills and to the various research centres in the region.
“These visits gave us firsthand experience of Colombia’s best agricultural and industrial practices. And while Colombian productivity has recently been severely affected by the El Niño and La Niño weather phenomena, the country ranks as the highest in productivity levels across the world’s industries,” Kadwa said.
SA Canegrowers’ Board member, Graeme Stainbank, said what stood out for him from the entire visit was the focus and adoption of innovation, new ideas and “blue sky thinking” all done by a lot of young people. “Colombian presenters at the congress focussed a lot on their ethanol and bio-fuel programmes which are very innovative. Lots of papers on the use of drones and drone technology and on the plant breeding side of things. I found the concept of gene editing as opposed to genetic modification fascinating. It seems this will take the place of genetically modifying crops in the future,” Stainbank said.
Research presented at the Congress which had caught the attention of South Africa’s delegation included an “interesting” paper on urea efficiency and why losses were as big as they are, and a paper on the use of vinasse as a fertiliser. “On weed control there was a very interesting paper on Cynodon dactylon control. This is a global problem and the best treatment – according to the study – was a combination of the selective herbicides, Tolpyralate and Atrazine. However, Tolpyralate seems unattainable in South Africa,” Stainbank said.