40 years (1977-2017)

Memorable Cenicaña Moments

1977 The National Sugar Commission approves the draft statutes prepared by Asocaña for the creation of Cenicaña. The Research Center was formally established on September 6, 1977.

1980 Construction of the Cenicaña Experimental Station begins. Two years later, on July 17, 1982, the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Fernando Londoño, inaugurated the San Antonio de Los Caballeros Experimental Station.

1983 The soil and tissue analysis service is established to be provided to Cenicaña contributors and cooperating entities.
The first approximation of the agroclimatic zoning of the Cauca River Valley is concluded to rationalize the sites where the Center conducts cooperative experiments with sugar mills and growers.

1986 The Technical Cooperation and Technology Transfer Service is born to facilitate the use of the results of Cenicaña research by sugar mills and growers.

1987 The regional tests of the first 16 Cenicaña Colombia (CC) varieties are sown, corresponding to the selections started in 1982 and 1983.

1992 The Factory Process Program begins activities.
For the first time a variety obtained in Cenicaña, CC 84-75, reaches the category of main variety with a planted area equivalent to 2.54% of the total hectares of the agro-industry.
Soils with homogeneous physical characteristics are identified and classified by groups to establish agronomic management for each one.

1993 With twelve stations the Automated Meteorological Network of the agro-industry comes into operation.

1995 As a strategy to transfer technologies and accelerate their adoption, Cenicaña leads the establishment of pilot areas on producers' farms.

1997 At the end of the year, the pilot farms had a total of 318 hectares planted on farms of the Manuelita, Sancarlos, Risaralda and Ciat sugar mills.

1998 Cenicaña joins the International Sugarcane Biotechnology Consortium. Begins the evaluation of DNA fragments apparently linked with genes that control sucrose.

1999 The variety CC 85-92 is the most sown in the fields of the Cauca river valley and the most productive of all those harvested.

2001 The Technology Transfer Groups (GTT) are created with suppliers from Ingenio Risaralda.
The third approximation of agroecological zoning for sugarcane cultivation in the region concludes.

2002 The execution of the site-specific Agriculture project (AEPS) begins and progress is made in the development of analysis tools for use on the web.

2003 Molecular characterization of the Cenicaña Colombia varieties of the germplasm bank, the development of transgenic plants with resistance to the yellow leaf virus and the search for molecular markers associated with resistance to said disease advances.
The Cenicaña website, designed to support the development of AEPS, is officially launched.

2005 The sector's PM10 Network comes into operation, essential to monitor the particles present in the atmosphere due to the burning of sugarcane.

2007 The detailed study of soils dedicated to the cultivation of sugar cane in 216,765 hectares of the Cauca river valley is completed, from which the fourth approximation of the agroecological zoning in which 149 zones were identified was elaborated.
Cenicaña begins to investigate issues related to ethanol production. The following year, she designs a pilot fermenter to validate the research results on a laboratory scale. The CATE macro-project also begins to improve the technological and logistical standards of the harvesting system.
Best practices in harvest and transportation logistics are identified.

2008 A technical and economic evaluation of the auto-turning system in loading the cane is carried out.

2009 At the end of the year, 16 varieties of CC cane have been registered in Colombia. Some varieties are registered in Ecuador and Peru.

2010 On November 25, the new Biotechnology laboratory was inaugurated, for which it had the support of Colciencias.
The Factory Process program completes the characterization of the boilers of various sugar mills, which led to adjustments in the operation and the quality of combustion.
Prototype wagons are developed to transport cane with a minimum weight.

2011 The Guide to Technical Recommendations with an AEPS approach is published.

2013 Initiates the Learning and Technical Assistance Program (PAT) aimed at sugar mill professionals to increase the adoption of technologies among growers.
Using bioinformatics tools, Cenicaña identifies 6963 sugarcane genes that are activated in conditions of water deficit or waterlogging.
Cenicaña begins a hydrological monitoring project to learn about the impact of conservation actions in the watersheds carried out by the Water for Life and Sustainability Fund.

2014 The second group of plants transformed for resistance to the yellow leaf virus is characterized in a greenhouse.
Cenicaña and the sugar mills identify a new species of Diatraea in the valley of the Cauca river.
A new version of the Ceniprof program, a tool to improve the performance of factory operations, is officially delivered to the mills in the region.

2015 Cenicaña presents 35 years of research on irrigation with the book: Efficient management of irrigation in the cultivation of sugarcane in the geographic valley of the Cauca River.

2016 The GNSS RTK Agribusiness Network comes into operation, which is operated and administered by Cenicaña.

2017 The Training Center becomes operational.

Information letter 
Year 5 / Number 2 / December 2017Full text in version:
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