Significant Drop in Brazil’s Sugarcane Production due to Droughts

Brazil is set to face a 6.86% drop in sugarcane crush produce from its southern and central regions this year. According to the data released by the UNICA (União da Indústria de Cana-de-Açúca ) on October 13 sugarcane crushed by centre- south producers totaled around 467 million tonnes in the April 1- Oct 1 this season.

Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of sugarcane in the world followed closely by India last year brazil had managed to produce about 665.1 million metric tonnes of sugar cane which was an unprecedented record in the past 12 years.

This year’s failure of sugarcane production as a crop stems from the fact that sugarcane can be considered to be a crop that needs around 1,500 to 3,000 litres of water per kilogram of cane which is quite a lot.

The best form of soil for sugarcane cultivation is a well-drained loamy soil with a neutral soil response (pH 6.5 to 7.5), appropriate nutrients, and no soil compaction (soil that has air trapped in it)

This is something only achievable in places with a good monsoon.

The reason behind brazils failure in meeting the production aims of this year lies solely with the amount of rainfall that they had in this year. Droughts are becoming more often in Sao Paulo, as is the case in 2021. In 2014, the city's reservoirs were on the verge of running empty.

Even though Brazil is an agricultural superpower, it is currently facing a drought crisis in 2021.

Environmental pollution due to human activity is increasing the temperature of the oceans surrounding brazil and being the key contributor to the increase in warm water in the Atlantic and cold water in the pacific it is hence suffering from a change in the regular hydro cycle in its region and hence is facing a lot of droughts.

These droughts also end up affecting the hydropower plants and hence end up creating an energy crisis too. Sugarcane and its derivatives like ethanol may play a crucial role in creating new and renewable energy sources however until the water crisis is solved it will be really difficult for people to actually implement it.