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History of RIDESA

PLANALSUCAR: THE BEGINNING
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Without a doubt, investments in genetic improvement, as well as in other technologies, are the basis of the sugarcane production chain. In the 1970/1971 harvest, Brazil crushed 57 million tons of sugarcane, with an average yield of 50 t/ha, recovering 90 kg of sugar per ton of sugarcane, resulting in 4.5 t of sugar/ha.

The Sugar and Alcohol Institute (IAA), an agency of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, was established in 1933 and its main objectives were to regulate the country's sugar market and promote alcohol production. In 1971, the IAA created the National Sugarcane Breeding Program (PLANALSUCAR), with the aim of improving crop yields, both in the field and in the industry. In this project, it was estimated, in the most pessimistic scenario, that the sugar industry would benefit from a 10% increase in profitability when the first RB (Republic of Brazil) varieties were adopted. The cost of the Program, when fully implemented, would represent 0.15% of the gross value of production.

It would be the creation of an agro-industrial research apparatus distributed throughout the sugarcane producing states. It was assumed that most of the benefits would be obtained with the first results of the Program, and an annual increase of always more than 3% was expected. Such an increase, at the time, would represent an annual gain of more than 16 million dollars for the country.

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PLANALSUCAR had five major Regional Coordinating Offices, covering all Brazilian sugarcane-producing states, supported by Regional Experimental Stations strategically located throughout the country. Its staff consisted of a notable and experienced team of researchers, technicians and operators, to meet the needs of a sector in constant development.

"In 1971, the IAA created the National Sugarcane Improvement Program – PLANALSUCAR, with the aim of improving crop yields, both in the field and in the industry."

RIDESA: Origins and Contributions

RIDESA also operated Regional Substations in the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina, Bahia, Sergipe, Paraíba, Maranhão, Pará, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, and Rondônia.

In these sugarcane-producing regions, specific projects were developed across various agronomic fields to address both environmental challenges and human demands. Within less than five years, this research organization had already delivered highly significant results for Brazil’s sugarcane sector, most notably:

  • The modernization of agricultural and industrial mechanization.

  • The introduction of biological pest control in Brazil, guiding sugarcane companies in the production of Cotesia flavipes wasps for controlling the sugarcane borer (Diatraea spp.), and the production of the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae for controlling spittlebugs (Mahanarva spp.).

  • Calibration of macro- and micronutrients in soils, and development of liming and fertilization recommendations for sugarcane.

  • Optimization of industrial processes in sugar and ethanol production.

  • Establishment of payment standards for sugarcane based on sucrose content.

However, the most notable contribution was undoubtedly in genetic breeding, with the development of the RB cultivars—a registered acronym with the Germplasm Committee of the International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists (ISSCT). From the beginning, the RB varietal program relied on the Germplasm Bank of the Serra do Ouro Flowering and Crossing Station, located in Murici, Alagoas, originally established in 1967 by the Sugarcane Experimental Station of Alagoas (EECAA). This Germplasm Bank was composed of varieties from sugarcane breeding programs worldwide and came under the management of PLANALSUCAR in 1971.

Genetic crossings were carried out at Serra do Ouro by COONE, which supplied seeds to other PLANALSUCAR coordinating units (COSUL, COESTE, CONOR, and COCEN), initiating the selection processes to develop RB cultivars adapted to the diverse environmental conditions of Brazil’s sugarcane-growing regions.

RIDESA: The Beginning

Until 1988, sugar and ethanol production in Brazil was heavily regulated and subsidized by the Federal Government. With the enactment of Brazil’s new Federal Constitution in 1988, the country shifted its economic policies, putting an end to subsidy programs such as PROÁLCOOL. As a result, government support for sugarcane research—including genetic breeding—was discontinued with the dissolution of the IAA in 1990, leading to the termination of PLANALSUCAR.

That same year, the incorporation of former PLANALSUCAR units into Federal Universities opened new possibilities for both researchers and the sugar-energy sector. A key decision was made: transferring PLANALSUCAR’s human resources, infrastructure, and technology to several Federal Universities—UFAL (Alagoas), UFRPE (Pernambuco), UFV (Minas Gerais), UFSCar (São Paulo), UFRRJ (Rio de Janeiro), UFPR (Paraná), and UFS (Sergipe). A Technical Note from the Secretariat for Regional Development of the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil, dated August 16, 1990, defined the institutional model for the sugarcane breeding program, officially transferring research responsibilities—previously held by PLANALSUCAR's regional offices—to this network of universities. This initiative led to the creation of RIDESA (Interuniversity Network for the Development of the Sugar-Energy Sector).

Currently, RIDESA also includes the Federal Universities of Goiás (UFG), Mato Grosso (UFMT), and Piauí (UFPI), all working together under a Cooperation Agreement (Figure 1). However, the benefits of this transition were affected by the lack of federal funding to sustain RB cultivar research.

Sugarcane genetic breeding researchers who remained at RIDESA universities took the initiative to develop the first fundraising projects, mainly targeting sugar and ethanol mills across Brazil. To manage this effectively, RIDESA established regional areas of operation, allowing private-sector funds to be distributed and invested directly in the universities, fostering research—especially for the continuation of RB cultivar breeding.

Still, the transition was not without challenges. Several universities, especially in states with fewer sugar and ethanol producers, struggled to maintain their breeding programs due to limited financial resources.

PLANALSUCAR focused its efforts on providing sugarcane producers with knowledge, products and services generated by research, which resulted in a considerable increase in agro-industrial productivity. This research organization also developed as a function of the National Alcohol Program (PROÁLCOOL), whose goals could only be achieved by either incorporating new sugarcane planting areas in locations suitable for cultivation, or by increasing productivity in areas that were already traditional producers. The idea was to provide essential support to all regions that had potential for the development of PROÁLCOOL. This resulted in rapid responses in terms of alcohol production, taking into account regional characteristics. PLANALSUCAR was implemented progressively, through Regional Coordinating Offices in the states of Alagoas (COONE – Rio Largo), São Paulo (COSUL – Araras), Rio de Janeiro (COESTE – Campos), Pernambuco (CONOR – Carpina) and Minas Gerais (COCEN – Ponte Nova).
Figure 1. Federal Higher Education Institutions - IFES, participants of RIDESA, 2015.

This established a network research model, which has been consolidated at RIDESA in recent years. The following premises for this network research work are defined in the technical cooperation agreement signed between the Universities:

  1. Funding must be primarily private, a fact that has guaranteed a continuous flow of financial resources in the long term for the development of the program.

  2. Each University must develop its own PMGCA (Sugarcane Genetic Improvement Program) in partnership with the sugar mills, distilleries and sugarcane suppliers in the State in which it is located, capturing private resources for this purpose.

  3. All Universities must assist in the maintenance of the Germplasm Bank and the Experimental Crossing Stations, with this annual cost being distributed among the Universities and in proportion to the revenue from partnerships with sugarcane producing companies.

  4. The University must register and protect its varieties with the National Cultivar Protection Service (SNPC), of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA), and these varieties are licensed to the other Universities that are members of RIDESA.

  5. The partnership model with mills and distilleries should involve the introduction, evaluation and selection of RB clones based on experiments in the companies. At the same time, Universities should grant, through a contract, a non-exclusive license for the use of RB varieties.

  6. Between RIDESA Universities, an exchange of promising RB clones must be carried out annually, so that those RB clones developed in one State are evaluated in experiments in the plants and distilleries of the other States.


Thus, RIDESA's research activities are developed and shared among all universities, encouraging the exchange of information, knowledge and results. RIDESA currently has 79 research bases, including university laboratories, crossing stations, experimental stations and selection bases, the latter of which are conducted in partnership with companies in the sugarcane sector (Figure 2). This greatly increases the capacity and national scope of research and innovation results. RIDESA does not have legal personality, as it was established through a technical cooperation agreement between universities. The senior management has been carried out by the rectors of the universities, who form a coordination body and a General Coordinator is chosen from among them. A council is formed among the professors and researchers involved in the PMGCA activities of the universities, and a General Technical Coordinator is elected for a two-year term.

Figure 2. PMGCA/RIDESA Research Bases, 2015.
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