The 74-year-old ISSCT has so far organised 22 congresses, which are normally held at 3-year intervals. Workshops are also be held for discussions among specialists on issues affecting the industry.

The ISSCT is governed by an executive body of 10 members elected every three years by a council which consists of representatives of the 20 affiliated societies who meet during congresses.

The congress this year will be preceded by visits of delegates to various places. The first batch will visit the Vasantdada Sugar Institute and modern cooperative sugar mills and review drip irrigation schemes in Pune on February 19 and 20.

The second batch will visit the sugarcane breeding institute in Coimbatore on the same days. The team will seeextension work with farmers and visit the Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited and Sakthi Sugar Mills. Specialists will have the option to visit the World Sugarcane Germplasm collection at Kunnar, Kerala.

The third batch will visit on February 21 the Daurala Sugar Works and a jaggery manufacturing unit in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.

The themes for discussion at the congress will include the keynote address on "Sugar industry in the future" and plenary sessions on "Sustainable stewardship of the environment", "Improving productivity in the sugar industry" and "Globalisation: Challenges and opportunities". The convener for the first plenary session will be PW Rein of Tongaat-Hulert Sugar, South Africa.

The topics to be covered are environmental management systems for sugar factories; sustainable agriculture practices; legal, social and business issues and energy and the environment. The second plenary to be chaired by CC Ryan of the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations (BSES), Australia will coverinternational productivity comparisons; cane yield plateaus and potential for yield increases and productivity increases in sugar mills through new technology.

The third plenary will be chaired by DM Sawhney of Triveni Engineering and Industries, India and will cover effect of research policy and strategies; quality standards; economics and barriers to trade and the impact of the Internet.