Oct 18, 2011
Cane Producers in Brazil Converting to Mechanical Harvesting
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The state government of Sao Paulo determined in 2007 that all the sugarcane produced in the state must be harvested mechanically and they gave the sugarcane producers until 2017 to comply with the new regulations. The decision to convert to mechanical harvesting was based solely on environmental concerns. The traditional method of harvesting sugarcane involved burning off the dry leaves in order to facilitate hand cutting of the crop. This burning though resulted in a tremendous amount of air pollution and respiratory problems for local residents.
Since most of the sugarcane in Brazil is harvested during the dry season, there is very little rainfall at that time of the year to clean the air. During the peak of the burning season, often times there was a blue haze of smoke covering huge regions of the state for sometimes weeks at a time. Local residents with respiratory problems suffered a lot from the increased levels of soot and smoke.
As a result of these new regulations, sugarcane producers are converting to mechanical harvesting as quickly as possible. The demand for mechanical harvesters is so great that the waiting time for delivery can be up to a yearlong. It is estimated that the sugarcane producers in the region of Ribeirao Preto in northern Sao Paulo are already harvesting 65% of their crop mechanically, which is up 10% from last year.
When the state established the new regulations in 2007, it was determined that larger producers must convert more quickly to mechanical harvesting and they were given until 2014 to do so. Producers who had less than 150 hectares of sugarcane were given until 2017 to comply with the new regulations. Areas where the slop was more than 12% were also granted extra time to comply (until 2017).
If the owners of these small fields of sugarcane (less than 150 hectares) or highly sloping land (greater than 12% slope) cannot arrange to have their fields mechanically harvested, then these areas will no longer be allowed to produce sugarcane.