No More Sugarcane in Brazilian Amazon Forest and Pantanal Wetland

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has proposed legislation to regulate sugarcane cultivation for the sugar and ethanol industries. Among the regulations included in the proposal, up to 81% of the country's lands would be banned from sugarcane cultivation, with the objective of protecting environmentally fragile territorries such as the areas of the Amazon forest in the North and the Pantanal wetlands in the West.

Once all the banned lands and those that are not viable are excluded, about 7.5% of Brazilian territory will be available for sugarcane growing, which is equivalent to 64 million hectares. Currently, cane cultivation occupies an area of 8.89 million hectares, which is about 1% of the country's total surface.

Lula's legislation will set other conditions on sugarcane growers regarding the selection of available territories. The crop will be planted in lands where little irrigation is needed and where mechanized harvest is possible, in order to reduce the field-burning that is necessary when sugarcane is harvested manually. The proposal has been sent to the Brazilian congress for further analysis and approval.

Many environmental organizations have expressed concerns regarding sugarcane spreading into protected or sensitive areas, shadowing Brazilian efforts to present fuel ethanol as an environmentally friendly fuel.

Brazil is one of the biggest sugar and ethanol producers in the world, and its sugarcane-based industry keeps growing. For more details, view related September 18, 2009, article - Brazil's Sugarcane-Based Ethanol and Sugar Industry Grows in 2009.

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