WICSCBS is one of the two oldest (Java being the other one) sugar cane breeding institutions in the world, with a continuous breeding programme since the rediscovery of seedlings in Barbados in 1888.

 ORGANISATION

Funding for the WICSCBS is derived from contributions from SAC member countries viz. Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St. Kitts, Jamaica and Belize. The Station is guided by a Technical Committee comprising the Directors of Research of each of the SAC member industries. WICSCBS also receives limited funding from subscriptions paid by its Associate Members viz. Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica, Sudan, Senegal and a few other countries in Africa and Asia. The Station maintains a strong relationship with the Centre de Cooperation International en Recherche Agronomique pour le Dévelopement (CIRAD), France, in the areas of varietal exchange, quarantine and molecular research involving sugar cane.

RESOURCES

WICSCBS has well developed physical facilities to carry out sugar cane breeding to support the industries in the member countries. The staff comprises three Senior Scientists - the Director, Plant Breeder and Geneticist; and a junior scientist responsible for Germplasm and Breeding.

The Scientific staff is supported by Technical, Administrative and Field staff. The Station has benefited from the consultation of several leading scientists in the fields of sugarcane breeding and genetics.

WICSCBS goal is to breed superior varieties of sugarcane to cater to the needs of the various member countries. The Station has produced several superior varieties of sugarcane that drive the sugar industries of the member countries. 

The station has one of the largest sugar cane germplasm collections in the world (over 3000 unique clones) that are maintained on 16 hectares of land. A large crossing house, tissue culture and sugarcane quality testing labs and other facilities are available. Furthermore, the Station has a SpectraCane Analyzer (www.spectracane.com) that was calibrated to analyse various components of sugar cane and is currently used to analyse Brix in cane and juice; percentage fibre, water; polarity, polarity in juice and cane, and purity. So far in 2009, the SpectraCane Analyzer has been used to analyze over 5000 sugar cane samples. The variety selection and testing facilities of the members in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St. Kitts, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Belize and Sudan complement the Station’s facilities in Barbados. In addition, the Station benefits from continued cooperation with the University of the West Indies in Barbados and CIRAD in Guadeloupe and Montpellier, France. 

The Station has a student’s quarters that can comfortably house one person for short to medium term collaborative research on any aspect of sugar cane.

West Indies Central Sugar Cane Breeding Station
WICSCBS - Groves, St. George, BARBADOS, W.I.
Tel: 1 246 4331308 Fax: 1 246 4335568
info@wicscbs.org