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THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SUGARCANE VARIETY EVALUATION NETWORK FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL AFRICAN COUNTRIES

Sugarcane has been grown for some thirty years in Western and Central Africa. The annual sugar production is now around 500,000 tonnes, all of which is produced by recently privatised sugarcane companies. With a view to increasing productivity, producers aim at renewing the range of varieties grown. Unlike many sugarcane growing areas, this regional sugar industry does not have at its disposal a breeding programme to create its own varieties. It relies entirely on the introduction of varieties by individual producers and their evaluation locally. In 1999, CIRAD organised a workshop on variety improvement with the sugar producers of the region. These comprised some breeding centres (CERF, MSIRI) and the West Indies Sugarcane Breeding and Evaluation Network (WISBEN). The purpose was to set up a regional variety improvement network. It was noted that several existing selection programmes were relatively long, that the variety turnover was low and that some varieties were not being fully exploited. It was therefore decided to improve the existing selection programmes and the current methodologies, with the purpose of sharing information among growers on variety selection, to diversify the variety supply source and to increase the number of introductions. In 2001, during the second workshop, the sugar producers agreed to set up a regional variety evaluation network and to create an association. Once created, the association would establish collaborations with breeding centres to introduce genetic material. In the longer term, the producers of the region could initiate a hybridisation programme.