Sugar Cane and Sugar Research at National Cereals Research Institute, Badeggi, Nigeria: Time for Collaboration with Egypt’s Sugar Groups

Abstract

National Cereals Research Institute situated on Lat 09045' N, Long 6007'E at an Altitude of 70.57m above sea level has the national mandate for genetic improvement of sugar cane and five other crops. Thus, National Cereals Research Institute, Badeggi has been involved in Research and Development (R & D) of sugar cane for the past 3 and 4 decades respectively. During this period, seven indigenously bred varieties have been released for use by the Nigerian sugar industries. The research efforts on sugar have also witnessed the development of 10 tons per day (10tcd) brown sugar processing technology for cottage level sugar production. In striving to achieve these novel technologies, various stakeholders were collaborated with spanning from the Federal Government, Agencies of Governments at the Federal, state and local levels and the universities with little or no input from the Nigerian Sugar Industry. Due to some encountered deficiency in key areas for sugar cane and sugar research and production, the Institute finds imperative to seek worthy collaborators in Egypt's sugar groups in biotechnology and sugar technologies for the development of suitable varieties foe sugar and ethanol production and the time for this synergy is now. This paper highlights what NCRI has been able to archive in the past decades on sugarcanes and sugar research and areas needing urgent collaboration with relevant Egypt technocrat in sugar cane and sugar.