Sugarcane is a very useful plant and is grown in more than 100 countries. It has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, diversify energy supplies, increase independency from oil, and create jobs.

13.5 Sugar Production

The territory of Brazil is so vast that the “food-or-fuel” debate (energy plants replacing food plants on agricultural land) is de facto not applicable in Brazil because:

1. Only 2.8% of the country’s arable land is planted with sugarcane. Even this tiny portion of the total agricultural surface of Brazil covers about 9.5 million hectares.

2. Out of these 9.5 million hectares, about 4.6 million hectares of sugarcane are destined for ethanol production. This biofuel production represents only 1.4% of the total arable land.

3. The area cultivated for sugarcane and used for ethanol is less than 25% of Brazil’s corn acreage, 12.5% of soybean fields, and 2.7% of the land used for cattle ranching.

4. While cane production has increased steadily in recent years, food production in Brazil has grown dramatically. The 2009 harvest for grain and oilseed reached 149 million tonnes, approximately twice that of 10 years ago. Brazil is widely recognized for its diversified and highly efficient agricultural sector — it is the world’s leading exporter of beef, coffee, orange juice, poultry, ethanol, and sugar, just to name a few of the top commodities.

5. Current and future expansion is anticipated to continue in south-central Brazil, primarily on degraded pastures. As such, growing sugarcane in these areas does not increase competition for new land, displace other crops, or destroy the Amazon region.

I hope these arguments convince you that sugarcanes are not crowding out grains or cattle!

Brazil is the world’s largest sugarcane producer, responsible for 35% of global production. Close to 90% of Brazil’s sugarcane crop is located in the south-central Region, where the annual harvest takes place from April to December, coinciding with the dry season. Only 0.2% of the sugarcane fields are in the Amazon region.

13.5

Sugar Production

At present the juice that results from the cane crush is used to produce about 50% sugar and 50% ethanol. Most of Brazil’s 430 active mills can produce both. Exactly how much of each product is made varies according to market conditions and

technical aspects of the mill’s design. Brazil exports about 70% of the total sugar production to over 100 countries.

13.6