How to reduce sugarcane harvest losses

Reducing losses from the sugarcane harvest has become a major challenge for producers. This is because, with economic development, sugarcane has become an important raw material in the manufacture of products for both human consumption and commerce and industry.

According to Sugar Research Australia, an entity that invests and manages research projects for the sugar cane industry in Australia, the losses in the cane harvest range from 5% a 15%. But, they can reach even 20% in the most extreme cases. Therefore, it is essential to reduce these indices.

So a smaller harvest means less money in your pocket. Logically, this is a loss for the producer who has invested a lot since planting and has reduced revenue precisely in the last stage of the harvest.

Therefore, it is necessary to know techniques that can bring promising results and simple solutions to reduce these losses.

Interested in knowing more about and reducing these losses in the sugarcane harvest? Follow this article from MF Rural now.

What can cause losses in the sugarcane harvest

The sugarcane industry has become one of the main economic ventures in several countries – especially in Brazil. The country is now the largest sugarcane producer in the world, accounting for 40% of the crop (720 million tons).

However, as this crop corresponds to a perishable commodity, it is essential to be aware of all the factors that can impact your harvest. In addition, losses both in this stage and in sucrose.

In compliance with legislation and social and environmental requirements, mechanized sugarcane harvesting has become an indispensable practice. So much so that in the last decade, this practice went from 25% to practically 95% of the entire harvest carried out in the country.

Planted sugarcane and challenges to reduce losses
Brazil is the largest sugarcane producer, with 8,6 million hectares planted, according to a survey by the National Supply Company (Conab). But there is a challenge: to reduce harvest losses.

Thus, reducing losses in mechanized sugarcane harvesting has become very important. There are several intrinsic and extrinsic factors that can cause and even exacerbate these losses.

Biodeterioration, associated with excessive delays between harvesting and milling, is often one of the main reasons, being responsible for a huge depreciation in tonnage.

According to the University of Rio Verde, another problem is related to the poor conditions of the cane field and the harvesting machines that could contribute to this high rate of these losses. In addition, production of sugarcane full of impurities, which would eventually have their sucrose altered.

Other factors responsible for sugarcane losses

Still, these are not the only points to watch out for to reduce losses. Other items are also present, such as ambient temperature, humidity, cane variety, maturity status and even the storage period (in the case of post-harvest) can generate numerous harm to investors’ profits.

And speaking of this later period, the activities of invertases and the proliferation of microbial-producing acid, ethanol and polysaccharides also play a crucial role in reducing sugarcane losses.

All this, of course, influences the process as a whole and can cause a good part of the harvest to be lost.

The main techniques established in Brazil

In order to think about the techniques and solutions established to reduce losses in the sugarcane harvest, it is necessary to consider all the research carried out so far, by different specialists in the area.

In this context, a study carried out by the Universidade Estadual Paulista pointed out that it is essential to focus on soil conditions, as well as the management of the crop, so that these losses are reduced. Thus, regardless of whether the process is manual or mechanized, the organization highlights:

  • Soil preparation, including desiccation, application of corrective and tillage;
  • The planting, corresponding to furrowing, fertilization and covering;
  • Cultural practices, such as cultivation, application of pesticides and topdressing fertilization.

Speaking of soil conditions, in the video below, check out the impacts of the mechanization of sugarcane harvesting. In addition, one of the ways to reduce these losses: systematization:

Source: coloradomaquinas.

Harvester speed influences sugarcane losses

In turn, the State University of Montes Claros argues that mechanized harvesting needs to be reassessed, requiring the correct handling of harvesters in the sense that this material is not lost.

Thus, an entire evaluation was carried out around the machines speed at the time of harvest. And the result showed that the faster they work, the more visible the increase in losses. Therefore, it would be necessary to find an optimal pace to reduce losses.

Another research, also involving the speed of the harvesters, was carried out by researchers from the Mechanized Harvest Study Group (Gecom), linked to Fatec “Shunji Nishimura” in Pompeii/SP.

Sugarcane harvester in action
The speed of the harvesters is one of the main points aimed at reducing sugarcane harvesting.

They evaluated the influence of two rotations of the primary exhaust on the visible losses that occurred during the mechanized harvesting of sugarcane. The study indicated that chip loss is directly influenced by this component of the machine.

Therefore, it can be considered that the rotation of 800rpm was the most suitable for offering an amount of 0,37% lower losses when compared to the 1.100 rpm rotation which resulted in a loss of 0,56%.

Other scientific research

With another bias, the University of São Paulo (USP) pointed out that, in order to reduce tonnage loss, it would be necessary to focus on water spray, in bactericidal solution applications and use of anti-inversion.

In addition, according to the same researchers, before harvesting, it would be interesting to foliate the soil, applying zinc and magnesium compounds.

After harvest, the use of dextranase could contribute to improve sucrose recovery and minimize other quality problems.

An international hope for a Brazilian problem

Thinking about solving the issue of reducing losses in the sugarcane harvest, the Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences investigated the effectiveness of the chemical formulation in these losses. It was analyzed whether this intervention could bring some positivism around the problem.

Aerial view of the sugarcane harvest. Worrying about losses
Losses from the sugarcane harvest is a topic that constantly involves a lot of research.

The results of the research carried out showed that the application of benzalkonium chloride, mixed with sodium metasilicate, had a good effect both on dry canes and on those cultivated under normal conditions, such as the Brazilian ones.

In the case of dry cane, it was possible to reduce losses to 8,25% of the harvest and, under normal conditions, losses of 11%. In this way, this practice works even better in the driest places, but it should not be discarded in sugarcane planted in Brazilian soil either.

It is worth remembering that, as suggested by the Institute of Chemistry of the University of São Paulo (IQ-USP), the genes present in sugarcane are perfectly adapted to drought conditions, making it resistant to this condition.

Therefore, for the crops that eventually exist in regions of the country that deal with this climate situation, the Indian strategy can work perfectly and still bring a new look at this issue.

Conclusion

Therefore, as we have shown in this article, reducing harvest losses has become a challenge for sugarcane producers. It is necessary to adopt some measures and techniques that can guarantee a better result in this process.

Also check out our post on how sugarcane bagasse can replace oil in the manufacture of plastics. Good reading!

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Anna Evans

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