CIENCIACTIVA presented the CIC

The Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Tecnológica (CONCYTEC) presented the first Cacao Innovation Center (CIC), a proposal selected within the framework of the Convocation of Centers of Excellence promoted by CIENCIACTIVA, with a financing of 12 million 500 thousand soles.

The objective of the CIC is to generate, through scientific research, technological solutions of high impact, focused on the needs of the market, to increase the productivity of cacao in a sustainable way, and generate improvements and efficiencies throughout the value chain .

The CIC has achieved the confluence of universities and companies of recognized national and international prestige, being conformed by the Peruvian University Cayetano Heredia, National Agrarian University la Molina and Penn State University of the United States; As well as by the companies Ecom Trading, Central Café y Cacao, and La Ibérica. In addition, it has the valuable collaboration of: GIZ Pro Ambiente, Institute of Tropical Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, Fraunhofer, Center for the Promotion of Imports of Developing Countries (CBI), BIOINCUBA; National Commission for the Development and Life without Drugs (DEVIDA), and the Exporter Romex.

With the contribution of universities, companies and Cienciactiva, the total CIC budget exceeds S /. 51 million. The research activities include the development of a database of genetic information on the different varieties of cacao, both nationally and internationally, which will be systematized in an online database.

Likewise, key areas will be identified to establish an experimental network, which will be key for the projects developed in technologies for the cultivation and fermentation of cacao, and to validate in the field the results of the projects. Peru has one of the highest growth rates in world cacao production (over 12% per annum) and has 6 out of 10 recognized genetic groups of cacao. Its price grows at an annual average of 8.5%.

Source: http://www.cienciactiva.gob.pe/