Clean Cane Workshop 2000 : SRDC final report

Abstract

The Corporation has identified clean cane as a strategic issue that transcends several of its programs of research.

For the industry, clean cane is a challenge on which growers; harvesters and millers have differing perspectives. There is also a strong social aspect with the ability of mills to penalise dirty cane and the pressure towards the end of the season to keep cutting in the wet to truncate the season length. The answers thus are not clinically functional or economic. The solutions may have trade-offs. Pragmatism may interfere with idealism. Dirt or trash in cane happens in the field but does its damage or has its effect primarily in the factory. Penalties discourage co-operation with management of the problem.

The recent history of research in the industry into the production of clean cane has seen several industry participants take polarised views. While a healthy contest for position and research funding always assists the resolution of an issue, the polarisation of opinion and support for directly contradictory positions has the potential to confuse the rest of the industry and diminish support for research into clean cane overall.

The Corporation has been a consistent sponsor of industry representative workshops on clean cane for several years. In the mid 1990's, clean cane had been nominated as a multi-program activity for which the priorities and strategies for research and development had been prioritised. This led to a Corporation sponsored workshop in March 1996 which resulted in the development of a draft document to stimulate discussion and service an agreed platform for future progress.