In technical discussions that compare the temporal evolution of grain productivity with that of sugarcane, in the last decade, the results are very unfavorable to the sugarcane sector. While in the management of soils in the grain sector, more and more, practices of building the fertility of the soil profile and harvesters of dozens of rows of crops are added, implying a reduction in compaction and, both, resulting in an increase in the root system of plants, the sugarcane crop is subjected to intensified compaction, with extreme reduction of the root system.

Add that, in this comparison with the grain sector, the production to be removed from soybean crops is 3 to 5 tons per hectare, corn is 7 to 10 tons per hectare and sugar cane is 70 to 100 tons per hectare. As for the sugarcane crop, in the old scenario of harvesting, manual cutting with fire husk, the harvesting set, constituted by the loader and truck or tractor with cargo compartment, transported, in one pass, the production of five lines of sugarcane.

In the new scenario, the “harvester + tractor with transhipment” set travels through the crops line by line, positioning the harvester belt twice between the lines and twice the transshipment wheels, that is, ten times more, proceeding to the harvest and transport of high density with chopped cane from the individual lines. It should also be noted that the sugarcane harvest period extended to months of higher soil moisture (March to April and November to December).

Thus, significant differences between the harvests in the period with fire-throwing and without fire-throwing, although currently with significant and unquestionable environmental gain, exponentially potentiated soil compaction, implying a drastic reduction in the development of the root system, resulting in less infiltration of the precipitation, with an increase in the water deficit due to less use of precipitation, less use of nutrients contained in the soil and from fertilization, greater negative impact of soil pests and less efficient weed control, due to the slowness of shading between the lines, resulting in decrease in productivity and longevity of crops. In addition, due to the extreme reduction in the hydraulic conductivity of the soil surface, a greater production of runoff, making soil and water conservation practices, based exclusively on terracing , obsolete , especially terraces that cannot be crossed by the mechanized system (no passersby).









Therefore, currently, the basic principle to be adopted for the further development of the root system and the better conservation of the soil and water is the adoption of systematization projects that allow the positioning of the wheelset (harvesters' conveyor belts and transshipment wheels) exactly in the between the lines of the plants, through autopilot technology, detailed planialtimetric surveys feasible on a large scale and Geoprocessing Software, also adding morphological, physical, water and chemical information from the soil profiles.

Allied to the objective of stimulating and preserving the further development of the root system, areas with projects of straighter alignments or smoothed arches should be positioned for harvesting at the extremes of the harvest, initial third and final third, since, in these periods, , the soils are with moisture and, therefore, with maximum friability, that is, greater susceptibility to compaction. Areas with higher angularity projects, furrows in more closed arcs with a tendency to level, should be positioned in mid-harvest, since, due to the presence of lower humidity, the soils are at maximum cohesion and, therefore, less subject to severe levels of compaction.

Concomitantly with these criteria to be adopted in planning and with the objective of optimizing the sugarcane crop's consumption of water from rainfall, soils of intermediate Available Water Capacity at the beginning of the harvest, soils with Low Available Water in mid-harvest and soils with high Available Water Capacity and with less susceptibility to erosion at the end of the season, thus respecting the criterion for optimizing the available water in the soil profiles and the water consumption coefficient. sugarcane crop water (KC). Based on these definitions, the varieties are allocated, allowing them to express a greater percentage of their genetic potential.

It is therefore recommended that the planning of sugarcane crop management starts with the harvest planning, which is carried out by associating a set of areas, if possible with geographic proximity and with the appropriate characteristics (soil, systematization and KC), defining the harvest blocks.

It should be noted that the displacement of areas during the harvest months (third axis theory), in order to obtain a greater chronological age of the cane fields, with possible increases in Total Recoverable Sugar per ton of cane, can be adopted, provided that the principles considered, that is, if areas with low Available Water Capacity soils and/or systematization with greater angularity are displaced; in the following year, the negative impact on sprouting and vigor of ratoons and, consequently, on productivity can be quite high.

After the harvest planning, the planting plan is elaborated, based on the soil characteristics. Subsequently, the planning of the soil preparation is carried out, adopting technologies that seek, fundamentally, the maximum depth of the root system, through the efficient elimination of physical and chemical restrictions, which coincide with the maximum infiltration of water from precipitation.

It is recommended the use of fast-developing plant covers, mainly in soils with greater erodibility, also admitting green covers with a lower speed of development, provided that they are in soils with less susceptibility to erosion. Soil preparation in depth, which increases the hydraulic conductivity of the profile, should preferably be carried out in strips, with or without meiosi, complementing with high efficiency the mechanical practice of soil and water conservation based exclusively on terracing.

Depending on the season, the morphological and physical hydric characteristics of the soils and the topographical characteristics, allied to the vegetation cover and, especially, the adoption of strip tillage, the adoption of terracing can be minimized, or even replaced. With this new concept of ordering agricultural planning, carried out at least 3 to 5 years in advance, the adoption of available technologies and the performance of agricultural operations are optimized, both in quantitative and qualitative terms.

When planning in the proposed sequence is adopted: harvesting, planting and preparation, water efficiency is maximized, either through greater infiltration of rainfall into the soil or through greater development of the sugarcane root system, enhancing the other variables, allowing them to positively express their effects in obtaining better operational, agronomic and environmental results.