Brazilian sugarcane yields down on frost, cane flowering: UNICA

In Brazil, The Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association revised the crushing estimates for the 2011/2012 harvest released on July 2011. The new forecast estimates a crushing of 510.24 million tons, a total reduction of 8.39% over the final value of the 2010/2011 harvest (556.95 million tons).

According to data compiled by the CTC, agricultural productivity in harvested areas in July was 70.80 tons of cane per hectare, a drop of 17.48% in comparison to the value observed in July 2010. Total agricultural productivity since the beginning of the harvest remained at 74.10 tons of cane per hectare, against 92.80 observed in the same period last year (down 20.15%).

UNICA’s Technical Director, Antonio de Padua Rodrigues, explains “the data collected in July showed that frost and flowering of the cane impacted agricultural productivity of cane fields with greater intensity that we had initially anticipated.”