Between July 15 and 18, the 41st Congress of the Colombian Entomology Society, Socolen, was held in Cali, in which the symposium 'Actualidad de los borers de la cane, Diatraea spp., and its management in America '.
Symposium on sugarcane borers
Between July 15 and 18, the 41st Congress of the Colombian Entomology Society, Socolen, was held in Cali, in which the symposium 'Actualidad de los borers de la cane, Diatraea spp., and its management in America '.
The symposium was attended by international experts in the field such as Andrea Joyce (United States), who spoke about the relationships between host plants, stem borers (D. saccharalis) and its parasitoids (cotesia flavipes); Bruno Zachrisson (Panama), on the current situation and projection of the management of Diatraea spp. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), in Panama; and José Francisco García (Brazil), who spoke about management in the integrated management of Diatraea saccharalis in his country.
In addition to the symposium on borers, the Congress had eight keynote conferences and another eight symposia with specialists in different areas of Entomology.
Sugar mill staff were trained in geomatics
Last April a cycle of six geomatics workshops for the sugar sector concluded, organized by the Cenicaña Agronomy Program with the purpose of sharing technical knowledge in the use of technologies for the collection, analysis and interpretation of geographic information.
The workshops were attended by representatives of ten sugar mills in the region, who were trained in spatial analysis and advanced geoprocessing, remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) tools for precision agriculture.
This training cycle arose from a survey conducted by Cenicaña that highlighted the importance of strengthening the geomatics knowledge of professionals in charge of cartography, topography and GIS in the sector.
Laboratories ensure their processes metrologically
To guarantee the reliability of the measurements of the quality variables of the finished product (such as Pol in sugar, which measures the content of sucrose in cane, in intermediate products and in the sugar produced in the region) and that is essential for its marketing, on March 21, the eighth polarimeter standard quartz intercomparison was held at the Risaralda Sugar Mill.
The comparison exercise of the quartz from the laboratories, in which Cenicaña and eleven sugar mills participated, revealed that all of them are within the tolerance established as a control limit. The results of this analysis are used by the mills to demonstrate traceability of this variable in the manufacturing indicators and in the audits of clients and Icontec for the renewal of quality seals.
First results of the management of the Factory Water Table
During the first quarter of 2014, the sugar mills in the sector stopped capturing around 600,000 m3 of water in the sugar and ethanol production process, compared to the same period in 2013. This reduction is the result of the management of indicators in the factories, which began last year as part of the actions undertaken by the Mesa del Agua en Fábrica.
The Factory Water Table is an initiative led by Cenicaña with the participation of the personnel responsible for water management in the mills factories, to comprehensively define the best practices for the efficient use of liquid.
As part of the activities carried out by the Board, the water balance was implemented in two mills, which allows the entry and exit of water in industrial processes to be counted to identify their potential for reuse. Also, in order to characterize the water currents inside the mill and define their reuse according to their composition, Cenicaña standardized methodologies that it delivered to the mills for their implementation.
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