LAND USE

The low impact of sugarcane on land use is sustained through careful land management.
Thanks to efficiency gains and new technologies, we are improving our productivity per hectare everyday.
Any expansion of production in Brazil would be primarily driven by converting degraded livestock pastures in the Central-South region of the country.

The total land used for sugarcane cultivation in Brazil is 10 million hectares, of which approximately half is destined for ethanol and half for sugar.

As highlighted by the 2019 JRC study, the expected expansion of sugarcane will mainly happen over degraded pasture land. Sugarcane is semi-perennial, meaning it only needs to be replanted every five or six years with minimum tillage, therefore capturing larger amounts of carbon than other land uses.

Thanks to the sugarcane sector’s responsible agricultural practices, sugarcane fields have low soil erosion and minimal water use. Due to the innovative use of organic fertilizers, a by-product of sugarcane processing, agrochemical use is minimal.