Sugarcane planting area is 2.2 million mu (146,000 ha) in Myanmar, about half of Yunnan, but its average yield is only 3.8 tons/mu (57 t/ha), while Yunnan is 4.5 tons/mu (67 t/ha), recovery sugar is only 9%, Yunnan is 12.98%. Sugar production is only one third of Yunnan. Application of elite sugarcane varieties, technology of planting and management are the main reasons to the low benefits in Myanmar.
The border line is more than 1,000 kilometers among Yunnan and Myanmar, Dehong, Lincang, Baoshan, Puer and Xishuangbanna, bordering to Myanmar, where are the main sugarcane growing areas in Yunnan. Yunnan sugar enterprises grow 400,000 mu (27，000 ha) of sugarcane in northern Myanmar and import 1.5 million tons of sugarcane annually. Establishment of a sugar cane base in Myanmar using the advantages of science and technology of Yunnan, can not only promote the development of the local sugar industry, but also realize the supply of sugar cane raw materials in the border areas of Yunnan province. It is an important practical and far-reaching significance for the replacement of poppy planting and the stability of ethnic areas.
Since 2008, Yunnan Sugarcane Institute (YSRI) and sugarcane Research Center of Ministry of Agriculture Myanmar started to cooperate on sugarcane germplasm exchange, experimental, demonstration and technical training within the platform of " Exchange and Cooperation Consortium for Agricultural Science and Technology in GMS ", A total of 25 varieties or clones from Myanmar were imported, 20 varieties or clones and 20 crosses were provided, 20 scientists from Myanmar were trained (another 880 were trained in Myanmar). Supplied varieties, such as CYZ98-7, CYZ99-596 and CYZ99-91 performed well in Myanmar, and CYZ89-7 was registered in Myanmar in 2018 and was the first sugarcane variety registered in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, YSRI also provided the technologies to Myanmar such as synchronization for flowering, photoperiod treatment for flower induction and improvement of hybridization technology, etc., which laid a foundation for win-win development of China-Myanmar sugarcane industry.
