Olímpia, March 27, 2014 - 98% of the sugarcane managed by Guarani will be harvested mechanically in the next crop 2014/15 that starts next April 1st.                 

São Paulo sugarcane producers have until the end of this year to comply with the Environmental Protocol signed between the Secretary of State for the Environment and the industry in 2007. It expects the end of sugarcane straw burning, in 2014, within areas that may be mechanized. The deadline is 2017 for areas that cannot receive harvesting machines. 

The mechanization also extends to sugarcane planting. In the 2014/15 cycle, the planting will be 85% mechanized at Guarani, which represents a major leap if compared to the harvest of 2012/13, when a rate of 34% was recorded

"Precision agriculture techniques and investment in the renewal of sugarcane crops will help us increase sugarcane productivity. In the 2014/15 season, the company will renew 18,000 hectares of sugarcane", said Alberto Pedrosa, CEO of Guarani. "We are still evaluating the impact of the drought that hit our production region earlier this year, but we are working to overcome the 19.7 million tonnes processed in the previous harvest".

Cogeneration of electricity

The 2014/15 season also marks the progress of the project to expand the cogeneration of clean energy at Guarani. Self-sufficient in energy generated from sugarcane bagasse, the Company expects to sell more than 1 million MWh in the current harvest, which represents an increase of 40% as compared to the previous harvest.

The company is already conducting tests on the reuse of sugarcane straw for power generation.

distributed by