Bayer CropScience teams up with CTC to extend sugarcane-research

Bayer CropScience and the CTC – Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira, the Center for Sugarcane Technology, São Paulo, Brazil – intend to enter into a broad cooperation on the research and development of biotech sugarcane varieties. The main goal is to combine the expertise of both partners to develop varieties with higher sugar content, aiming to increase the production efficiency of ethanol. Bayer CropScience plans to provide its technologies for introgression into CTC´s proprietary elite germplasm.

The new biotech varieties are expected to produce significantly higher amounts of sugar: Early research results have indicated increases of about 30 to 40 percent. The products resulting from this cooperation are anticipated to be ready for submission for regulatory approval by 2015. With the targeted cooperation, CTC aims to broaden its portfolio of biotech traits and Bayer CropScience supports its expansion of activities in plant biotechnology to sugarcane. The research and development activities of Bayer CropScience in sugarcane are currently focused on Brazil, where about 40 percent of the global production occurs.

"Bayer CropScience has more than 30 years experience with sugarcane. We are providing innovative products and solutions to the entire segment – it´s already an important business for us. Drawing on this strength, we are now targeting significant productivity increases for the ethanol industry, fully in line with our commitment to deliver integrated and sustainable solutions", said Marc Reichardt, Head of Business Operations Latin America at Bayer CropScience.

"Sugarcane is the most productive crop for economically viable renewable energy with the best CO2 balance," added Joachim Schneider, Head of the Business Operations Unit BioScience at Bayer CropScience. "CTC is one of the worlds leaders in research from sugarcane-breeding to industrial processing, and with the combined expertise of both partners the crop can be improved further."

"Biotechnology is one of the priorities of CTC to add value to the sugarcane production and processing chain. We can envision a great increase in yield using our proprietary germplasm and Bayer’s technologies. Presently, sugarcane is the most competitive renewable energy crop and this collaboration with Bayer will further enhance this competitiveness”, says Nilson Boeta, CEO of CTC.