DNVN - In the context of global warming and extreme weather events becoming more frequent, causing many losses to the productivity of the sugar industry in particular. This requires the sugar industry to have a climate adaptation strategy to improve competitiveness and maintain the market.
Big challenges from climate change
The information was emphasized by delegates at the workshop "Climate adaptation strategy to enhance the competitiveness of Vietnam's sugar industry" organized by the Vietnam Sugarcane Association in Gia Lai on September 13.
Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Mr. Nguyen Van Loc - Chairman of the Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association said that since Vietnam applied trade defense measures in 2021, the sugar industry has recorded significant revival and growth.
In particular, the sugarcane purchase price has been continuously raised by the Vietnamese sugar industry for 5 consecutive crops, with an increase of 152% compared to the 2019/20 crop. Currently, the sugarcane price has increased to 1.2 - 1.3 million VND/ton - equivalent to that of sugarcane producing countries in the region. This has led to an increase in sugarcane growing area, sugarcane and sugar output increasing continuously over the last 4 production crops.
In ASEAN, there are 4 main countries producing sugar from sugarcane: Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia. Some other countries also produce sugarcane but at a lower level such as Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar.
Delegates performed the opening ceremony of the sugar industry exhibition as part of a series of events summarizing the sugar industry in the 2023-2024 crop year.
"Sugar cane production in the 2023-2024 crop year has recorded major developments. Notably, for the first time, Vietnam has achieved the highest sugar productivity in the region, reaching 6.79 tons of sugar/ha," Mr. Loc informed.
However, according to the Chairman of the Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association, the sugar industry faces many difficulties and challenges. Notably, the challenge related to climate change is the most notable. Vietnam is located in Southeast Asia - one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change, facing rising sea levels, heat waves, floods and droughts. Vietnam's main sugarcane growing regions are facing droughts, floods and forest fires.
Along with that is the unhealthy business environment, commercial fraud of smuggled sugar. While Vietnam seriously implements international commitments on sugar, the lack of seriousness of partners in the region has caused negative impacts, threatening the existence of the Vietnamese sugar industry.
The Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association forecasts that the 2024-2025 crop year will bring many challenges to the Vietnamese sugar industry. The reason is that the industry has to deal with the La Nina phenomenon, which is expected to start having an impact during the crop year. The price of agricultural materials has increased, the situation of smuggled sugar and trade fraud on smuggled sugar, the evasion of trade defense measures, and the narrowing of the sugar market due to the increase in imports of liquid sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.
International experience in climate adaptation
In the context of many challenges, the Chairman of the Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association said that the sugar industry needs to learn from the experience of adapting from India, Brazil and other countries.
According to Mr. Loc, India has developed regionally adapted sugarcane varieties by testing varieties in locations with different agro-ecological characteristics; ensuring productivity, quality, weather adaptation, and good root regeneration; ensuring variety quality by micropropagation solutions. In addition, it has determined varieties suitable for the most adverse conditions and appropriate cultivation techniques.
Sharing the experience of the Brazilian sugar industry in adapting to climate change, Dr. Raffaella Rossetto - Sugarcane Research Center, Agronomic Institute of Campinas, Brazil said that climate change has highlighted the need to adopt climate-smart strategies to support agricultural production worldwide. In fact, current changes in climate patterns have increased the occurrence of agro-meteorological hazards globally.
Quang Ngai Sugar Factory's booth on the sidelines of the workshop "Climate adaptation strategy to enhance the competitiveness of Vietnam's sugar industry".
Global signs of climate change are a warming trend with unprecedented heat waves and more droughts of increasing intensity. Brazil has also experienced such negative signs of climate change.
The frequency of severe droughts increased between 1980 and 2023 in more than 50% of all regions of Brazil. This trend is particularly pronounced in major sugarcane-producing regions, such as Sao Paulo State.
To mitigate the effects of climate change, Brazil is focusing on enhancing the root system of sugarcane, allowing the plant to tap into larger volumes of soil, thus accessing more water and nutrients.
Each year, Brazil conducts four breeding programs that provide new varieties with the aim of developing insect and disease resistance, drought tolerance, and biomass production. However, yield increases have been limited, especially in areas without severe climatic constraints or where irrigation systems are available. All breeding programs evaluate the yield of new varieties for tolerance to water stress.
In addition, Brazil changed its land cultivation methods. The new methods include minimal tillage but deep plowing and planting on raised beds using GPS techniques with traffic control of motor vehicles in sugarcane fields to prevent soil compaction.
Along with that is the complete recirculation of by-products from the sugarcane processing process, organic supplementation through crop rotation, and soil adjustment to help crops withstand water shortages.
At the workshop, speakers shared the view that global warming and extreme weather events have become more frequent and have caused many losses in agricultural productivity in general and the sugar industry in particular.
Moving towards regenerative agriculture by increasing soil organic matter, increasing root system depth and improving biodiversity conservation can mitigate these limitations.
Activities such as irrigation and precision agriculture aim to optimize resource use and increase productivity in a sustainable manner.
Mr. Cao Anh Duong from the Sugarcane Research Institute recommends that the sugarcane industry choose appropriate fertilizers and prevent pests and diseases for sugarcane.
One of the institute's recommendations is to strengthen cooperation and linkage between the institute, sugarcane association and domestic and international enterprises and organizations.
Meanwhile, sharing about the development orientation in the coming time, the Chairman of the Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association said that it is necessary to strengthen the development of the chain of linkages in sugarcane production. Build a healthy sugar market, develop harmoniously. Prevent commercial fraud, adapt to climate change conditions and implement a sugarcane variety selection program...
The workshop "Climate adaptation strategy to enhance the competitiveness of Vietnam's sugar industry" is one of many programs in the series of activities to summarize the sugar industry in the 2023-2024 crop year.  Delegates supported flood victims with nearly 70 million VND. This morning, a ceremony was held to commend and reward farmers with outstanding achievements. The organizing committee also mobilized delegates to contribute to support flood victims after storm No. 3 with a total amount of 69,739,000 VND. The conference to summarize the sugar industry in the 2023-2024 crop year will take place this afternoon in Gia Lai. The series of activities also includes a sugar industry sports and art competition, an exhibition of Vietnam's sugar industry, and a technical tour of sugarcane agriculture for farmer delegates... |
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