Instrumento de Financiación de la Cooperación al Desarrollo.- Apoyo a la investigación y el desarrollo en el sector del azúcar en países ACP.

Código de ayuda:

S55000/10

Norma:

W3 EuropeAid/130469/C/ACT/ACP.

Plazo de Solicitud:

Hasta el 18 de octubre de 2010.

Finalidad u objetivo de la ayuda:

The specific objective of this Call for Proposals is to complement the ACP Sugar research programme with
additional operations, not already implemented in the programme, and to provide R&D solutions in the
following areas:

- Theme 1: Science, technology and innovation in field production improvement (Agronomic practices; Land preparation; Harvesting; Environmental concerns etc.):
Results are expected with an increase in the quantity of cane produced per unit area, improved quality of canes delivered to factories,improved working conditions and increased farmers' income.

- Theme 2: Science, technology and innovation in factory operation improvement. (Cane payment;
Cane storage; Cane preparation; Effluent etc.)
Results are expected in the scope of the improvement of the quality of cane delivered, the measure of this
quality and its enhancement in the scope of yield improvement of the factories' technologies, effluent
management and the environment protection around the sugarcane factories.

- Theme 3: Co-products (fuel, chemistry etc.) development (New markets; speciality sugars, packaged
sugars, syrups both plain and flavoured; organic canes; fuel canes; ethanol from juices and from bagasse ;
other chemicals; Electricity generation etc.).

Categorías Subvención

Agricultura, Ganadería, Caza y Pesca
I + D + i (Investigación+Desarrollo+Innovación)

Localización del organismo gestor

Unión Europea

Convoca:

Comisión Europea ( Unión Europea)

¿Cuánto dinero puedes obtener con esta ayuda?

Any grant awarded under this Call for Proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum
amounts:

• minimum amount: EUR 100 000

• maximum amount: EUR 600 000

A grant may not be for less than 50% of the total eligible costs of the action. In addition, no grant may exceed 95% of the total eligible costs of the action (see also section 2.1.4). The balance must be financed from the applicant's or partners' own resources, or from sources other than the European Union budget or the European Development Fund.

Beneficiarios. ¿Quién puede solicitar esta ayuda?

Autónomos
Cooperativas y Sociedades Laborales no Agrarias
Cooperativas y Sociedades Laborales no Agrarias
Microempresas (menos de 10 empleados)
Particulares / Personas físicas
Pymes (menos de 250 empleados)
Sociedades Civiles

Detalle beneficiarios:

Legal persons that meet the requirements.

¿Qué gastos o inversiones que realices te pueden subvencionar?

This call for proposal covers three themes. Each Action must contribute to one of these themes, but the
purpose of the Action may be larger:

- Theme 1: Science, technology and innovation in field production improvement
Research or R&D Actions intended to reach the increase of the quantity of cane produced per unit area,
improve the quality of canes delivered to factories and improve working conditions and increase farmers'
income. The following have been identified as key issues for the sector:

(i) Agronomic practices: For increased productivity, agronomic practices irrigation, weed control and
fertilizer application must be employed in a timely fashion. Soil and leaf analysis should be widely carried
out and fertilizer recommendations adhered to closely. Cane yield surveys and return on investment studies
should be routinely carried out. The implementation of GIS technology in land surveying, field layout and
boundary mapping, irrigation and drainage can also be encouraged as these have proven to be cost-effective.

(ii) Land preparation: In Australia, double row planting is carried out resulting in increased field
productivity. Minimum tillage has been used in Jamaica and elsewhere to reduce land preparation costs and
to speed up the process of preparing the fields for planting. Research shows that this technology is beneficial to cane growth resulting in increased tonnages and is also quite cost-effective.

(iii) Harvesting: Harvesting of sugarcane is either manual requiring significant labour input or mechanical,
using harvesters. Whether manual or chopper-harvested methods are employed, the harvesting must be
carried out in an efficient manner and standards adhered to that will result in fresh cane, free of extraneous
matter, being transported to the factory. Full mechanization should be explored when: labour costs are high and labour output is low, there is a shortage of labour or in cases when social dislocation would be minimal
and economic and efficiency gains will be high. In addition, land topography and field lay-out must be able
to support full mechanization. There are problems associated with the use of mechanical harvesters as this
method usually results in increased extraneous matter, stools and excess tops being taken to the factory
which can adversely affect processing (Rein, 2005). The extra material puts pressure on the rollers and
increases the rate at which they wear and the tons cane per ton sugar conversion is also increased.

(v) Environmental concerns: New environmental regulations in most cane growing countries will eventually
lead to a ban on the burning of canes. This will result in added difficulties for cane cutters as they will be
required to cut through trash that would have been burnt. The added trash blanket will slow the re-growth of
the canes and can prevent fertilizers from getting to the root of plants. What are the options for dealing with
this potential problem? The trash has calorific value and can be burnt at the boilers if an economical way can be found to collect, compact, and transport it to the factory.

- Theme 2: Science, technology and innovation in factory operation improvement
Research or R&D Actions intended to the improvement of the quality of cane delivered, the measure of this
quality and its enhancement in the scope of yield improvement of the factories' technologies, effluent
management and the environment protection around the sugarcane factories. The following have been
identified as key issues for the sector:

(i) Cane payment: The practice of paying for canes by the tonnage has been replaced by payment for canes using quality parameters such as POL and BRIX (sucrose content) and this has resulted in laboratories being set up to sample cane on arrival at the factories. This emphasis on payment based on quality parameters could result in better quality canes reaching the factory.

(ii) Cane storage: Canes, once they arrive at the factory, should be transferred to the milling stations without storing and so some industries for example those in USA, no longer use traditional cane yards. In Jamaica, this practice has been introduced at one factory and at the others stringent measures have been implemented to ensure that canes brought in are milled first to reduce or totally eliminate staling at the factory. Ideally there should be little or no storage of canes at the factory since this can result in staling. Consequently, the sugar produced from these canes that are high in dextrans and other degradation products of sucrose attract heavy penalties from the refineries.

(iii) Cane preparation: Some modern factories employ diffusion technology for the extraction of sugar from
the cane. At most mills extraction of the juice is done by crushing the canes and passing through a series of
roll mills. Mill sanitation could be critical in preventing and/or reducing bacterial growth and the use of
chemicals such as biocides is routine at all sugar factories. Bacterial growth is evidenced by increase in
viscosity of the juice with resulting massecuites (mixture of molasses and sugar) which are difficult to
process and give rise to low boiling house efficiencies.

(iv) Effluents: The control and monitoring of effluents leaving the sugar factory is crucial in order to meet
new and existing environmental regulations. Air as well as wastewater quality now need to be monitored
periodically to ensure that environmental standards are observed.
For decades, the toxic chemical lead subacetate was used to clarify juice and sugar solutions for POL
analysis which provides an indication of sucrose content. With new environment regulations, it has become
necessary to find non-toxic substitutes.
Advancements in analytical techniques for polarimetric measurements have shown the use of NIR
technology could be a solution.

- Theme 3: Co-products (fuel, chemistry etc.) development
Research or R&D Actions intended to promote the production of speciality sugars, packaged sugars in
various sizes, colours and shapes, syrups both plain and flavoured and Actions oriented to the production of
ethanol from bagasse and action intended to the production of other chemicals.
The following have been identified as key issues for the sector:

(i) The growing of organic canes should be explored by small holdings as this offers good returns and can be more profitable for small farms. Guyana is presently marketing organic sugar.

(ii) The high price for fossil fuel and the pressure put on Governments by environmentalists has resulted in
more countries introducing regulations for the addition of ethanol to gasoline for the transportation industry.
Therefore the production of ethanol can provide a well needed lifeline to the sugar industry. Much research
is being done to convert the bagasse to ethanol and other chemicals which have greater market value.

(iii) Electricity generation through cogeneration by some industries might be profitable and should be
explored if large modern facilities are being built.

Types of activity

• Research and development activities;

• Development of the knowledge and capacity of individuals and organisations (research centres, groups of farmers, factories);

• Development of organisations and/or systems/networks of organisations;

• Support and improvement of the institutional frameworks, sectoral policies or other informal norms
which set the functioning of individuals and organisations;

• Feasibility studies of new commodity chains (ethanol, chemicals…);

• Capacity building of the research institutions.

Requisitos:

In order to be eligible for a grant, applicants must:

• Be legal persons and

• Be involved in the sugarcane research sector and have proven experience in ACP countries.
• Be nationals1 of a Member State of the European Union or of a Member State the ACP group of countries.

• Be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with their partners, not acting as
an intermediary.

Documentos asociados

Boletín: 19/08/2010
DOCE Diario Oficial de las Comunidades Europeas- Nº 00
Documento: Convocatoria de Propuestas. Descargar Documento