| Biofuels

Congress debates impact of technology on sugarcane productivity

The exhibition will showcase digital solutions that increase the efficiency of processes in sugarcane fields, increasing the performance of plants and ensuring greater productivity

29.07.2019 | 20:59 (UTC -3)

Cleia Schmitz

Responsible for the largest sugarcane market in the world, Brazilian businesspeople from the sugar-energy sector meet in Araçatuba (SP) this week, between July 31st and August 1st, on the 12th National Bioenergy Congress, promoted by the Union of Bioenergy Producers (UDOP). In addition to lectures and debates, participants will be able to check out the main technological solutions developed with a focus on the demands of sugarcane fields.

“Brazil is the world's largest producer of sugar cane and is responsible for almost half of all sugar exported. The function of technology is to ensure increasingly more efficiency so that the country can increase its productivity and profitability, gaining more competitiveness in the market”, highlights Bernardo de Castro, president of the Agriculture division of Hexagon, a reference in digital solutions for the field.

In the 2017/2018 harvest, 633 million tons of sugarcane were processed and sugar production reached 37 million tons. The data are from the Ministry of Agriculture. The intensive use of technologies is an increasingly prominent reality in the sector. Present in 46% of global sugarcane production processes, Hexagon brings solutions to the event that are already consolidated in the Brazilian market.

The company develops software and hardware that permeates all processes in the sugar-energy sector: planting planning, sugarcane field management, harvesting and transportation of sugarcane to the mills. One of Hexagon's highlights at the Bioenergy Congress will be the Machine Automation solution, which integrates several products developed with the aim of improving the processes carried out by vehicles and agricultural implements.

Highlights the HxGN AgrOn Autopilot, used in planting, application of inputs, cultural treatments and harvesting. It helps the navigation of agricultural machines, making them more precise and ensuring good alignment and reducing overrunning. Among the customers of the Machine Automation solution is São Martinho. Last year, the plant acquired 1.700 displays to automate its fleet of agricultural machines. “These are solutions that help correct routes, improving processes and boosting productivity”, highlights Castro.

Hexagon will also bring the Monitoring & Operations Management solution products to the event, with emphasis on the HxGN AgrOn Control Room. It is a system that receives data from the field in real time, allowing you to centrally monitor and manage all cultivation, harvesting and production transport operations. Through maps and reports, managers receive alerts of irregularities, incidents, machine performance problems and any divergence in relation to cultivation and harvesting planning. Thus, timely intervention is possible to avoid further losses. The AgrOn Control Room shows, for example, the start and end time of operations, with details of all data sensed on the machines.