Tropical sugar beet receives world business and development award

India’s Syngenta says it received the 2008 World Business and Development Award (WBDA) for the development and successful introduction of a new sugar beet that can be grown under tropical climate conditions and brings significant advantages to farmers, the environment, the sugar and ethanol industries and the economy.

The WBDA, presented by the United Nations Development Program, the International Chamber of Commerce and the International Business Leaders Forum, acknowledge the contribution of the private sector to help achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals.

The award recognized the company’s tropical sugar beet as "an example of technological innovation that helps increase sustainable agricultural productivity to meet the world's growing demand for food, feed and fuel".

Tropical sugar beet can be grown in relatively dry areas as it requires substantially less water than sugar cane.

The beets grow fast and allow farmers to grow a second crop on their land in the same period as sugarcane crops take to mature.

This increases farmers' productivity and income, bringing significant benefits also to the agricultural sector of developing markets.

Tropical sugar beet delivers similar output yields to sugar cane and can be used both for processing sugar for food and conversion to bio-ethanol.

An alternative to cane, it supports biodiversity when used in areas with extensive sugar cane monocultures.