Sugar cane varieties to be exported to Australia
(VOV) - Vietnam and Australia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on exchange of sugarcane varieties and cooperation in sugarcane disease and pest research.
Initially, researchers in each country have provided the other with a list of ten cane varieties to be exchanged.
Sugar Research Australia (SRA) executive manager of development Peter Allsopp said the biggest benefit from the MoU would be the chance to build a greater range of cane varieties available to Australian growers.
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According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Australia, the 10-year MoU between SRA and the Vietnam Sugarcane Research Institute (SRI) is designed to bring the same benefits to Vietnam, which has a much smaller sugar industry.
The two agencies will cooperate in the research of sugarcane diseases and pests and other ventures such as trait development, molecular biology, and crop management.
SRI Vietnam Director General, Nguyen Duc Quang, said the agreement will benefit both countries. Currently, Vietnam's cane industry has to cope with some diseases and pests which were of bio-security concern to Australia, even if they had not appeared in Australia,
"Working together, we can help lessen their impact on the Vietnamese industry, as well as ensuring that the Australian industry is well prepared for any incursion," he added.