Analyzing sugarcane production contracts in Brazil: What do the farmers really want? (original) (raw)
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Land use dynamics and sugarcane production
Contributions to climate change mitigation and the environment edited by Peter Zuurbier Jos van de Vooren A vision proposed by 8 Sugarcane ethanol Chapter 4 Mitigation of GHG emissions using sugarcane bioethanol Sugarcane ethanol Executive summary over previous productive areas (meaning new land has been incorporated into agricultural production, which might be attributed to the conversion of forest to agriculture or to the use of previously idle areas). Total agricultural area growth-the sum of all crops, including sugarcane, and pastures-in the period was around 3.3 million ha. 5. Projections indicate that harvested sugarcane area in Brazil will reach 11.7 million ha and other crops 43.8 million ha in 2018, while pasture area will decrease around 3 million ha. The total land area in Brazil is 851.196.500 ha. 6. The expansion of crops, except sugarcane, and pasture land is taking place despite of the sugarcane expansion. This is important because it reinforces that, even recognizing that sugarcane expansion contributes to the displacement of other crops and pasture, there is no evidence that deforestation caused by indirect land use effect is a consequence of sugarcane expansion. 7. Sugarcane ethanol from Brazil does comply with the targets of greenhouse gases (GHG) reduction. 8. The GHG emissions and mitigation from fuel ethanol production/use in Brazil are evaluated for the 2006/07 season, and for two scenarios for 2020: the 2020 Electricity Scenario (already being implemented) aiming at increasing electricity surplus with cane biomass residues; and the 2020 Ethanol Scenario using the residues for ethanol production. Emissions are evaluated from cane production to ethanol end use; process data was obtained from 40 mills in Brazilian Centre South. Energy ratios grow from 9.4 (2006) to 12.1 (2020, the two Scenarios); and the corresponding GHG mitigation increase from 79% (2006) to 86% (2020) if only the ethanol is considered. With co-products (electricity) it would be 120%. LUC derived GHG emissions were negative in the period 2002-2008, and very little impact (if any) is expected for 2008-2020, due mostly to the large availability of land with poor carbon stocks. Although indirect land use changes (ILUC) impacts cannot be adequately evaluated today, specific conditions in Brazil may lead to significant increases in ethanol production without positive ILUC emissions. 9. Brazil has achieved very high levels of productivity (on average 7.000 litres of ethanol/ha and 6,1 MWhr of energy/ha), despite its lower inputs of fertilizers and agrochemicals compared with other biofuels, while reducing significantly the emissions of greenhouse gases. The ending of sugarcane burning in 2014 is a good example of improving existing practices. 10. Production of ethanol in Brazil, which has been rising fast, is expected to reach 70 billion litres by the end of 2008. Approximately 80% of this volume will be used in the transport sector while the rest will go into alcoholic beverages or will be either used for industrial purposes (solvent, disinfectant, chemical feedstock, etc.). 11. When evaluating key drivers for ethanol demand, energy security and climate change are considered to be the most important objectives reported by nearly all countries that engage in bioenergy development activities. A next factor is the growth in demand for transport fuels. A third factor is vehicle technologies that already enable large scale use of ethanol.
Journal of Agrarian Change, 2020
From 2007 to 2017, the Agro-Environmental Protocol of the Sugar and Energy Sector was in force, an agreement between sugarcane mill owners and the State Government of São Paulo, Brazil, proposing to eliminate sugarcane burning as a method to facilitate the harvest. Simultaneously, the sugarcane harvest was becoming widely mechanized while, under the interests of capital accumulation, the mills were entering the information and communication technology era and providing the agricultural processes with more precise and immediate management and technological controls, similar to those implemented in the mills' administrative and industrial operations in the 1990s. Short-term factors, including environmental factors, favoured sugarcane technological changes. As a result, there was a mass layoff of rural workers and an increasing number of people/workers in agricultural mechanization, transportation and maintenance of machinery and administrative as well. The whole process highlighted the differences between mills, resulting in small and medium sugarcane farmers and mills to become the most impacted, in operational and financial terms, by the accelerating mechanization of the sugarcane industry as a whole.
2007
Pontal do Paranapanema is the only region in São Paulo state where a large scale sugarcane expansion can take place. Such expansion is expected and will likely affect the rural family farmers in the region. Without regulations, the expansion might negatively affect the income of family farmers who start to grow sugarcane. Some family farmers already grow sugarcane and it has been shown that their average income from sugarcane is sometimes less than 3 times the average income from sugarcane in the rest of the state. The same is expected to be the case for all family farmers who start to grow sugarcane if no regulations are added. The family farmers have such small properties that it is not profitable for them to buy all necessary equipment for growing sugarcane. They rent some services from the sugarcane industry leading to lower net incomes. The sugarcane expansion can lead to increased socioeconomic benefits for the family farmers if the expansion is done in combination with changed cattle farming. Family farmers can have a combined production system where they grow sugarcane on parts of their property and in exchange for the delivered sugarcane to the sugarcane industry they could receive nutritious cattle feed made from sugarcane residues. If the cattle stock is changed and feed with the cattle feed this can lead to large increases in milk production and hence large income gains. To evaluate the socioeconomic and climate impacts of expanding ethanol sugarcane production in conjunction with this combined production system, two models were created: one for calculating income growth of family farmers when a combined sugarcane and milk production system is introduced and one for calculating energy and emissions from a sugarcane expansion when coupled with the combined production system. The model analyses indicate that income could 10-fold for family farmers if a combined sugarcane and milk production system is introduced. At the same time, the global emissions of greenhouse gases could be significantly reduced if the ethanol from such production replaced gasoline used for transportation in the EU. If a sugarcane industry wants to run in Pontal regulations could state that they then have to produce cattle feed of some of the sugarcane residues in order to promote the combined production system.
Ethanol and sugarcane expansion in Brazil: what is fueling the ethanol industry?
International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 2016
This case study describes Brazilian ethanol industry and strategic issues faced by sugarcane farmers and processors as a result of recent industry expansion into the states of Goias and Mato Grosso do Sul. It provides detailed description of the ethanol supply chain in Brazil from field to market and discusses market drivers influencing the industry. Shaped by government regulations, market liberalization, globalization, and technological change, the Brazilian ethanol industry provides a rich context for learning and applying strategic analysis tools. The case is designed to be used in a graduate or undergraduate agribusiness management or strategic management course. The specific teaching objective for this case is to refine and reinforce students’ understanding of industry analysis and the effect of market drivers on competitive forces in an industry. Students will be expected to conduct an industry analysis and provide strategy recommendations to managers of ethanol plants and fa...
Biofuels Bioproducts & Biorefining-biofpr, 2007
Brazilian agriculture is characteristically dynamic; land and production resources have a skewed ownership distribution; and agricultural production is essential for small holders of rural poor regions. Also, the main agricultural land use is composed of pastures where extensive livestock production prevails. Because of increasing demand Brazil is expected to expand its sugarcane-based ethanol production. Addressing concerns about social and environmental impacts of such an expansion requires careful consideration of the complexity of Brazilian agriculture in general and specific local conditions in particular. This perspective outlines an expansion model for sugarcane ethanol production that is sensitive to socioeconomic and environmental concerns. Through integration with the prevailing land use, the model avoids the usual displacement of extensive livestock production to remote regions, causing leakage effects with deforestation and promotes milk and beef cattle intensification and investment opportunities for local society. The expansion model is feasible at current market conditions and should have good prospects for complying with sustainability criteria within various certification schemes presently under development. A case study, developed in the Pontal do Paranapanema region (state of São Paulo, Brazil) illustrates the model in agrarian reform settlements. © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Relationship between agrarian contracts and renewable energy production in sugarcane agroindustry
E3S Web of Conferences, 2021
Many agroindustries that process sugarcane raw to produce sugar and ethanol, and for energy cogeneration have difficulties to obtain all the necessary raw material. The agrarian contract practice can allow access to land in order to increase the production of sugarcane, without immobilizing resources in terms of the purchase of land, reducing the idle capacity of industrial plant, and increasing the cogeneration of energy by burning bagasse and sugarcane straw. It appears that the form of production of sugarcane (i.e., through land leasing, sharecropping, independent producers, etc.) can significantly affect the total costs of the industrial process. This work looks to find an empirical relation between the type of sugarcane producers and the energy produced by the mill based on data of the Agricultural Census of Brazil and monitoring data of power plant operation parameters of a typical mill in Brazil. It was found that the sugarcane raw coming from lands worked for tenants and sha...
Survey of sugarcane industry in Minas Gerais, Brazil: Focus on sustainability
Biomass and Bioenergy, 2013
Minas Gerais a b s t r a c t Sugarcane industry is one of the most important agribusiness sectors in Brazil, which receives foreign investments for expansion, due to great international interest. However, its expansion has been subject to control and restrictions related to sustainability imposed by foreign institutions and governments in developed countries. The present work aimed to assess the progress of ethanol plants from the region of Triâ ngulo Mineiro, located in the state of Minas Gerais, and their sustainability. It also provides information that can support local development and industry structure, based on the discussion of important issues to business, government and society. To obtain all the necessary information, a survey questionnaire was prepared and applied in the sugar ethanol plants and associations of sugarcane producers. This survey instrument included questions pertaining to current sustainability requirements, and questions to characterize producers and industries in this meso-region. The results revealed that companies and farmers are aware of the international and national agreements regarding sustainability and they are trying to meet all the requirements stated by those policies. The study not only demonstrates the evolution of the sector, but also the high level of the sustainable practices being adopted. ª b i o m a s s a n d b i o e n e r g y 5 8 ( 2 0 1 3 ) 1 4 9 e1 5 7 0961-9534/$ e see front matter ª
Sustainability of sugarcane production in Brazil. A review
Agronomy for Sustainable Development
Brazil is a major sugarcane producer and its production more than doubled over the last decades to meet global bioenergy demands for reducing crude oil dependency and mitigating climate change. Nevertheless, the adverse effects of this growth on jeopardizing the sustainability of sugarcane production are not known, especially when environmental impacts of agricultural inputs and production processes are not judiciously managed. This article is a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-knowledge and the main advances made thus far in the sugarcane sector. Here, we review the major environmental impacts of rapidly expanding sugarcane plantation on the land use change and its competition with food production, as well as those associated with sugarcane cultivation in Brazil. Our main finding are that sugarcane plantation did not contribute to direct deforestation, and its expansion on degraded pastures with the attendant increased yields of food crops and livestock intensification decreased land competition between food and sugarcane. Non-burning sugarcane harvesting is a win-win strategy because of its benefits involving agronomic and environmental aspects, but soil compaction is among the main issues in sugarcane cropping systems. Sugarcane is highly efficient in terms of nitrogen use efficiency, which is an important factor for its high energy balance. But, special attention should be given regarding emissions of nitrous oxide when straw mulching is combined with application of nitrogen fertilizer and vinasse. Recent advances in the sugarcane sector also show significant reductions in water consumption, making sugarcane ethanol one of the most favorable options in terms of water footprint. Growing realization of a vast potential indicates the need to further enhance the environmental benefits of sugarcane ethanol by optimizing the agricultural production chain. Based on this improved knowledge, the adoption of best management practices is among researchable priorities that can be developed to consolidate the large potential of sugarcane production towards greater sustainability.