Laymen and even people who are somehow linked to the sugar and ethanol sector do not know its processes like the plantation, the harvesting, the industrialization and the commercialization of the products. This special series of Atualize is going to show the way sugarcane and its sub products go through from the farming to the consumer. In this first issue, you will get to know about the influence of the soil and the cultural treatments in the quality of the cane and of the final products.

When we talk about the quality of the raw material it is important to highlight the entire productive process to reach the wished efficiency of sugar and ethanol.

The way towards excellence starts in the cane plantation which is distributed in several equally important steps. The analysis of the soil is the first aspect to be evaluated.

Deep and fertile soils, rather those with higher level of rain, are ideal for sugar cane that, due to its rusticity, also develops satisfactorily in arenasceous soils and those which are less fertile such as the cerrado.

The ideal weather for the sugar cane culture is the one with two very distinct seasons, a dry one and a humid one to provide the vegetative development, followed by another cold and dry season to promote the ripeness and the accumulation of sucrose in the stalks.

The relief, which sometimes is left behind when analyzing a region for the implantation of a cane industry, nowadays is extremely important with the creation of environmental laws and uncountable demands, mainly regarding the permanent preservation areas and legal reserves, besides the burning of the straw which deserves attention.

On the other hand, sugar cane farmings in areas with big declivity make the investment impracticable depending on the region of the undertaking. Once the weather and the soil conditions are evaluated, another analysis concerns the varieties of cane to be cultivated.

The cultivation must be divided in three kinds: precocious, medium and late, and separated according to the amounts of 20%, 50% and 30% respectively.

Because the sugarcane has a deep root system, a vegetative economic cycle of four years and a half or more, and an intense mechanization that is processed during this long period of permanence of the culture in the land, the soil preparation might be the best as possible and we must consider different situations:

– The cane will be implanted for the first time;

– The land is already occupied with cane.

It is needed verifying through chemical analyses the necessity of applying calcareous and manuring in the soil .

The calcareous must be applied uniformly over the soil. The most indicated time for such application goes from the last cut of the cane during the sugar cane plantation reform until the last harrowing in the land preparation.

Within this period, as soon as it is done, the most efficient it is. The manuring of the sugar cane happens in two different situations: For the cane plant, the fertilizer must be applied in the bottom of the plantation furrow after it is opened or through manure application machines attached to furrowers in double operation.

For the ratoon cane, the manuring must happen during the first cultural treatments in both sides of the cane line through the triple operation (decompacting/subsoiling, manuring and mechanical cut of other plants /harrowing).

In areas close to the industry there is a complementation of the chemical/organic manuring of the ratoon cane by the application of vinasse, of which amount per hectare depends on its chemical composition and the farming necessity for nutrients.

When everything is evaluated (weather and soil conditions, varieties, application of calcareous and manuring), there is the plantation itself. There are two seasons for plantation. The name of the first one is “year and a half” and the other is “cane of year”.

The plantation of the cane “year and a half” is the most recommended technically speaking because it allows a better use of the land along with other cultures which is named rotating crops. In warm regions, such as the west of São Paulo State, this time can be extended if there is enough humidity.

The cane of “year” is planted during the period of the harvest and it is harvested at the same time in the following year. In general, the cane “year and a half” is preferred because it makes higher agricultural yields possible.

Everything described beforehand must be evaluated because the quality of the raw material is closely linked to all these issues. To demand from the industry a satisfying result about the cane is not coherent because for the industry to have great indexes, it is necessary to start with a good planning for the farming.

It is highlighted that the sugar and the ethanol are stored in the cane (farming) and the industry is responsible for the recovery of the total sugars in it (ART), transforming them into finished products (sugar/ethanol), besides the transformation of the cane bagasse in clean energy for the process and for being traded as well.