BACOLOD CITY - Sugarcane biotechnology can accelerate the hybridization process which involves plant breeding techniques and micropropagation of different but selected sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) varieties from Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

So said Philippine Sugar Research Institute Foundation (Philsurin) director General Leon M. Arceo as he and top local industry leaders witnessed the blessing and inauguration of the first-ever biotechnology laboratory at the Victorias Milling Co. (Vicmico) in Negros Occidental which was completed recently.

In fact, the modern facility now sets the pace in "state-of-the-art" biological method of improved sugarcane plant genetics and variety improvement in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Arceo told Manila Bulletin the project is being financed by the London-based Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) while the executing agency is Philsurin.

Built under the auspices of the private sugarcane industry-led Institute, it houses modern biotechnology equipment and paraphernalia, computer-based gadgets and sophisticated accesories that could fast-track Vicmico's biotechnological studies and experimentation on the single farm commodity.

Top officials of the Sugarcane Regulatory Administration (SRA) led by administrator James Ledesma, Philsurin chairman George Zubiri, Federation of Philippine Industries, Inc. and concurrent Philippine Sugar Millers Association (PSMA) president V. Francisco Varua, Timothy Bennett, Jose Ma. Zabaleta, Augusto Araneta Jr., Dennish Afable, Atty. Cymbeline Parlade, Atty. Roberto Montalvan, Philsurin deputy director general Ramon Cu, external auditor Allan Cao and other industry leaders from the PSMA and Sugar Industry Foundation. Inc. (SIFI) were on hand to grace the inauguration and blessing ceremonies.

According to Arceo, among other main concerns of Philsurin;s thrust to lead in the regional R&D, extension and communication strategies, the Institute, in collaboration with state universities like the University of the Philippines Los Baņos (UPLB) and some private research entities pursues the development of sustainable pest and disease management for sugarcane.

"The bottom-line is for our country's renewed capability to provide efficiency in the production of sugarcane and effectiveness in delivering the latest results of R&D studies to the industry's various stakeholders to optimize productivity and thus, make the Philippines competitive in the global arena of sugar trading," Arceo intimated.