Megaenvironments for the Colombian sugar industry: characterisation and implications for varietal selection and crop management.

The sugarcane-growing area of the Colombian sugar industry is located in a heterogeneous valley with respect to its agroclimatic conditions. This is reflected in the differential sugar production of the varieties in accordance with the environment in which they are planted. This means that there are distinct megaenvironments that *require dflerent agronomic practices and varieties. The purpose of this paper is to present progress in the characterisation of megaenvironments for the Colombian sugarcane zone. Information is analysed for soils (orders, series and management groups), soil moisrure regimes and water balance. The most important factors that explain the variation in cane and sugar production were determined. The water balance, which is an indicator of the level of moisture available to the crop, and soil management group were the two factors that had the greatest influence on cane and sugar production and, as such, constitute the initial basis for varietal selection and evaluation, as well as for developing agronomic practices. Climatic factors such as rainfall fluctuate over time and space, indicating the importance of considering the temporal nature of climatic factors apart from geographic location in the definition of megaenvironments.