The Research Center strengthened its physical infrastructure to offer courses in different technologies that help improve productivity.
Cenicaña started a training program with theoretical-practical courses aimed at growers, butlers, mill staff, private technical assistants and contractors from the Colombian cane industry.
For the execution of the program, the Research Center strengthened its infrastructure with a Training Center that includes halls, exhibitions and demonstration areas in the field. The courses in ten technologies will be developed throughout the year, and are designed to facilitate the adoption of these by the personnel who carry out the work in the productive units.
With this program, Cenicaña seeks to consolidate the strategy that it started in 2014 with the Apprenticeship and Technical Assistance Program (PAT), with which mills have been trained to transfer technologies to growers or end users and to facilitate its adoption.
“A follow-up of the results of the PAT showed that end users require training because they have difficulties implementing some technologies. Thus, the need arose to have a training program aimed specifically at this public and to have a space that facilitates these theoretical-practical training processes, ”said Camilo Isaacs, head of the Cenicaña Technical Cooperation and Technology Transfer Service.
The program and the Training Center were presented to suppliers and mills in nine events that were held in the first quarter of the year, in order to publicize Cenicaña's new technology transfer strategy and motivate participation in the courses.
Course syllabus, 2017
- Agronomic management of sugarcane cultivation with a site-specific agriculture approach (AEPS).
- Administrative control of irrigation (CAR).
- Prioritized water balance for scheduling irrigation in sugar cane.
- Irrigation system with reduced flow in the cultivation of sugar cane.
- Damage evaluation of cane borers: Diatraea spp. And his control.
- Recognition of diseases of sugar cane in Colombia.
- Soil preparation for the sustainable production of sugar cane.
- Integrated management of weeds in sugar cane.
- Criteria for improving irrigation water management on farms according to water supply and demand.
- Tools available on the web for the practice of specific agriculture by site (AEPS).
Multipurpose scenario
The Training Center is a space for:
- Training of the Sena-Asocaña agreement.
- Attention to technical and university study visits.
- Technology demonstrations and exhibitions.
I have attended the AEPS courses, water balance and hydrological balance, diseases and management of Diatraea and they all seemed excellent to me. The exhibitors explain very well and I am learning to do tasks that I did not do before or to change those that I did not do following the parameters. At the mill, they insist that we train to increase productivity and I know that from now on we are going to get better productions, despite the fact that we have done well, with an average of 124 tons of sugarcane per hectare ”.
Maria Zuleima Caicedo
Provider Hacienda Rosario Caicedo. Incauca mill
These courses with their practical component make it possible to clarify doubts and adjust criteria. For example, on the farm we have an area with a humidity level that is not seen in practice. In the AEPS course we saw why these soil conditions should be verified and how to do it. So now we will review how true that humidity level is to see how we improve productivity. ” Norbely perez
Butler Hacienda El Cedrito. Riopaila sugar mill.
The training seemed formidable to me. We do not do 100% administrative control of irrigation, but we are going there because with these trainings we promote that everyone, from engineers to ordinary workers, speak the same language and understand the same concepts. So what I learn here today I have to pass on to my workers. ”Iván González
Estate administrator. La Cabaña sugar mill.
To consult
En www.cenicana.org The updated program and registration form is available.
KEEP IN MIND
Participation in Cenicaña courses is free and requires prior registration on the website. The courses have a limited capacity of 40 people and, therefore, when the quota of a date is completed, it is inactivated in the registration form and the next quota date is enabled.