Drip irrigation allows mapping of increased productivity in sugarcane fields

After the great drought that occurred in 2014, Brazil, especially the central south region, has been suffering, in 2021, a major water scarcity crisis, perhaps the biggest crisis in the country's history. This event made the sector's eyes return to the need to irrigate sugarcane fields.

However, there are still many doubts in the air. Which system to use? Is it economically viable? What will be the increase in productivity I will have in my region?

Aiming to clarify these questions, Netafim, a world-leading company and pioneer in drip irrigation, together with partner plants carried out a census, which shows the increase in productivity, cut by cut, that drip irrigators can achieve, on average, when compared to the productivity of rainfed sugarcane fields.

Divided into macro regions, the productivity increase data is presented as a percentage and divided cut by cut (up to the fifth cut, for comparative purposes) in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais.

The increase in productivity can reach values ​​of 45 to 98% depending on the region where the sugarcane field is located. Logically, these values ​​increase the greater the water deficit in the region. In any case, the average data for the central south region is spectacular and the data demonstrates that localized drip irrigation can increase productivity by up to 77%. Furthermore, the implementation of technology presents other advantages such as stabilizing production, increasing longevity, reducing production costs (R$/ton) and reducing the need for leasing.

Since the discovery of agriculture by ancient civilizations, irrigation has been an essential part of this production system, being the main input for obtaining food. However, at some point along this path there was a separation between agriculture and irrigation, where agricultural technological advances turned to developing techniques that advocated coexistence with water deficits. For years, agriculture has developed in this way, but now this separation is taking its toll and producers need to update themselves and use the good technologies available in favor of productivity.

Occupying an area of ​​approximately 10 million hectares, sugar cane is one of the main Brazilian agricultural crops. Providing the country with the title of largest sugar producer and exporter in the world.