Sugarcane in Brazil Current technologic stage and perspectives

This article aims at analyzing the sugarcane culture in Brazil, showing the current agricul- tural and industrial development stage of the sugar-alcohol industry and how important this culture has become. It discusses its technologic evolution and the technologies that are being developed in the fields of genetic improvement and new cultural practices, and it aims at estimating the benefits that can be obtained in the next few years with the use of new varieties with specific characteristics, proper varietal management and modern cultural practices. By using data from IBGE (the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), the productivity of Brazil and of the North, Northeast, South- East, Middle-West and South regions of the country were estimated based on the genetic potential from new varieties and on the use of new cultural practices. Using information from the results of the agricultural research, it was possible to conclude that a significant raise of sugarcane productivity levels in Brazil, due to genetic improvement, is bound to happen in the next few years.