Colombia presents a scenario of a developing country producer and consumer with possibilities of exports. Most of Colombia’s sugarcane is grown in the Cauca Valley, a rich agricultural valley with agroecological characteristics allowing the highest yield of sugarcane in the world (up to 130 tonnes/hectare).

Sugarcane cultivation requires a tropical or subtropical climate, with a mini­mum of 600 mm of annual rainfall. It is one of the most efficient photosynthesiz­ers in the plant kingdom, able to convert up to 2% of incident solar energy into biomass. Sugarcane is cultivated in almost all parts of the world, but only for a few months of the year, a period called safra. The only place in the world where there is no safra and, therefore, sugarcane is cultivated and produced year-round is in Colombia.

Colombian sugar production in 2008 was down 11% to 2,036,134 tons, from total sugar production of 2,277,120 tons in 2007. However, for 2009, an increase of about 15% is expected. Meanwhile, total Colombian sugar exports in 2008 fell 33% from the export volume in 2007 of 720,000 tons (Colombian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2008).

TABLE 12.2

Use of Sugarcane Produced in Colombia 2006

Cropped land with cane for sugar-cakes or loaves/ha 340,000

Cropped land with cane for sugar or ethanol/ha

For sugar production/ha

For ethanol production/ha

Sugar production/ton

Sugar consumption/ton

Sugar exports/ton

Fuel ethanol production/L

Source: Colombian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,

2008.

Fuel ethanol production in Colombia in 2008 rose 400 million liters, but the country expects to produce 1 billion liters of ethanol per year by 2010, more than doubling the current output, and the country plans to have enough production by the end of the year for export. It is believed that the U. S. Congress will approve the proposed U. S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which will allow Colombia to permanently ship its ethanol surplus to the United States duty free and not be subjected to any quotas. The Colombian government believes that agricultural exports and food security would not be affected by expanding ethanol output because the cane and other ethanol feedstock for future production will come from new crops and unused land.

In Colombia today, the food and bioethanol competition based on cane use is not an important issue; however, in the near future, it could be an important topic of discussion. The country uses 340,000 hectares (Table 12.2) with low produc­tivity (30 to 80 ton/ha). The sugar is handcrafted and prepared as brown blocks rather than as a crystalline powder, by pouring sugar and molasses together into molds and allowing the mixture to dry. This results in sugar cakes or loaves called in Colombiapanela (jaggery or gur in India). This product is not important on the international market, but has a very important internal market, as high nutritional raw material for national beverages. The possibility of using part of the existing cane hectares for ethanol instead of panela could be a catastrophic scenario for the food security in Colombia.