Area harvested with sugarcane is the largest of the last five harvests

The estimated harvested area up to October this year shows an increase of 1,2% compared to the last agricultural cycle, reaching 7,099 million hectares in the Center-South, according to the Cana Zoom report, produced by the Sugarcane Industry Union. sugar (UNICA), in partnership with the Sugarcane Technology Center (CTC), the Tempocampo System and the Integrated Laboratory for Data Analysis in Agribusiness and Bioenergy (LINEAR). This is the biggest increase in the harvested area in the last five harvests, favored by the use of time above average - in the 2020/2021 harvest, the indicator remains at 87,2%, the highest value in the historical series since the 2008/2009 cycle. XNUMX.
 
The amount of sugarcane processed by units in the Center-South grew 3,7% compared to the 2019/2020 cycle, totaling 565,92 million tons by the end of October. The raw material presented 144,9 kg of TRS per ton, compared to 138,9 kg per ton observed in the last cycle, an increase of 4,3%. 
 
The concentration of sugars was favored by the drought, which remains above the historical average for the month. In the accumulated until October, there was a 43,1% drop in the average rainfall index in the Center-South.  
 
The report also points out that the average crop yield in October 2020 decreased by 5,3% compared to 2019, reaching 63,4 tons per hectare. It is the first drop in productivity since May this year. Despite this fact, in the 2020/2021 harvest, agricultural productivity in the Center-South region reached 79,6 tons per hectare, an increase of 2,4% compared to the previous cycle.  
 
“When considering that around 90% of the available area has already been harvested this year, the drop in yield per hectare expected for the next harvest months due to the drought is unlikely to reverse the increase in productivity in the 2020/2021 cycle”, analyzes Antonio by Padua Rodrigues, technical director of UNICA.