Sugarcane Land Research Articles

Loss of soil (macro)fauna due to the expansion of Brazilian sugarcane acreage

Land use changes (LUC) from pasture to sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) crop are expected to add 6.4Mha of new sugarcane land by 2021 in the Brazilian Cerrado and Atlantic Forest biomes. We assessed the effects of these LUC on the abundance and community structure of animals that inhabit soils belowground through a field survey using chronosequences of land uses comprising native vegetation, pasture, and sugarcane along a 1000-km-long transect across these two major tropical biomes in Brazil. Macrofauna community composition differed among land uses. While most groups were associated with samples taken in native vegetation, high abundance of termites and earthworms appeared associated with pasture soils. Linear mixed effects analysis showed that LUC affected total abundance (X2(1)=6.79, p=0.03) and taxa richness (X2(1)=6.08, p=0.04) of soil macrofauna. Abundance increased from 411±70individualsm−2 in native vegetation to 1111±202individualsm−2 in pasture, but decreased sharply to 106±24individualsm−2 in sugarcane soils. Diversity decreased 24% from native vegetation to pasture, and 39% from pasture to sugarcane. Thus, a reduction of ~90% in soil macrofauna abundance, besides a loss of ~40% in the diversity of macrofauna groups, can be expected when sugarcane crops replace pasture in Brazilian tropical soils. In general, higher abundances of major macrofauna groups (ants, coleopterans, earthworms, and termites) were associated with higher acidity and low contents of macronutrients and organic matter in soil. This study draws attention for a significant biodiversity loss belowground due to tropical LUC in sugarcane expansion areas. Given that many groups of soil macrofauna are recognized as key mediators of ecosystem processes such as soil aggregation, nutrients cycling and soil carbon storage, our results warrant further efforts to understand the impacts of altering belowground biodiversity and composition on soil functioning and agriculture performance across LUC in the tropics.

Characterization of Surface Runoff, Soil Erosion, Nutrient Loss and their Relationship for Agricultural Plots in India

The present study was carried out to explore the existence of relationship among rainfall, runoff, soil loss and nutrient losses from the agricultural plots located at Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India. The natural rainfall generated runoff and soil loss from the 12 agricultural runoff plots (with four land uses namely sugarcane, maize, black gram and fallow land and having slope 5%, 3% and 1% for each land use) were recorded during monsoon period (June 2013 to September 2013). The highest grade plot was found to yield the highest magnitude of runoff (i.e. runoff coefficient) for a given land use and soil type. The soil loss from the experimental plots of various characteristics shown that for given rainfall input, on average, the plots with sugarcane land use were found to produce high amount of soil loss followed by Maize, fallow land and Blackgram. The nutrients losses were very low in the sediment as compared to the dissolved losses. Nutrients concentrations in sediment and runoff water were found to be more during the critical period. The higher limit of seasonal sediment yield obtained from the present study is lower than soil loss tolerance limit of 2.5 to 12.5 t/ha /yr for Indian subcontinent.

Improvement of Physical and Biological Quality of Soil in a Sugarcane Plantation through the Management of Organic Matter Input

Changes in soil quality of sugarcane plantation as a result of changes in land management can not be measured directly, but must be demonstrated by measuring the change in the properties of the ecosystem as an indicator. This research aimed to study the effect of the addition of various quality and quantity of organic matter on soil biology (earthworms) and physical quality (aggregate stability, macroporosity and infiltration rate). There were 15 treatment combinations tested. The first factor is the type of organic matter: (1) cattle manure (CM), (2) filter cake (FC), (3) sugarcane trash (ST), (4) a mixture of CM + FC and (5) a mixture of CM + ST. The second factor is the application dose of organic matter, which consists of three levels—5, 10 and 15 Mg/ha. The treatments were arranged in a factorial randomized block design with three replicates and one control treatment (without organic matter input). The result of this research showed that the highest population density of earthworms was found in the treatment of ST (78 individuals/m 2 ) and a mixture of CM + ST (84 individuals/m 2 ). The type of organic matter with C/N ratio ranged from 15.5 to 34.7 and cellulose content in 33.3%-40.1% gave better growth of earthworm. The effect of increase in earthworm growth on soil physical improvement is more apparent in the treatment of mixture of low quality and high quality organic matter. The increase of earthworm density and biomass enhanced soil macroporosity (from r = 0.683 to r = 0.606) and infiltration rate (from r = 0.669 to r = 0.756). The results of this study suggest a mixture of CM + ST or ST alone as organic matters, which is recommended to improve soil physical and biological quality of sugarcane land, with the dose application ranged from 10 Mg/ha to 15 Mg/ha.

Altered transcription levels of endocrine associated genes in two fisheries species collected from the Great Barrier Reef catchment and lagoon

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is chronically exposed to agricultural run-off containing pesticides, many of which are known endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Here, we measure mRNA transcript abundance of two EDC biomarkers in wild populations of barramundi (Lates calcarifer) and coral trout (Plectropomus leopardus and Plectropomus maculatus). Transcription levels of liver vitellogenin (vtg) differed significantly in both species amongst sites with different exposures to agricultural run-off; brain aromatase (cyp19a1b) revealed some differences for barramundi only. Exposure to run-off from sugarcane that contains pesticides is a likely pathway given (i) significant associations between barramundi vtg transcription levels, catchment sugarcane land use, and river pesticide concentrations, and (ii) consistency between patterns of coral trout vtg transcription levels and pesticide distribution in the GBR lagoon. Given the potential consequences of such exposure for reproductive fitness and population dynamics, these results are cause for concern for the sustainability of fisheries resources downstream from agricultural land uses.

Iron amendments to reduce bioaccessible arsenic

Former sugarcane lands on the Island of Hawaii have elevated levels of soil arsenic (As) from historical use of arsenical pesticides. The bioaccessible fraction of total As (AsTOT), a measure of the potential for human As uptake by incidental ingestion of soil, is used in the assessment of human health risk and the determination of the need for remedial action. Ferric chloride plus lime and ferrous sulfate plus lime were applied to As-contaminated soils in a field plot setting to determine the potential for reducing in vitro bioaccessible As (AsIVBA) by increasing As sequestration by the formation of additional iron (Fe) oxyhydroxides. The two Fe sources performed similarly in reducing AsIVBA over a 2-year observation period, with 30–41% reduction in AsIVBA for 0.25wt% Fe dosing (dry soil basis) and 59–63% reduction for 0.5wt% Fe dosing. Addition of phosphate (PO4) to treated and untreated soils caused a significant increase in AsIVBA. Iron-treated and control soils showed more than twice the AsIVBA after the addition of 1500mgPkg−1. The cost of in situ treatment of As-contaminated soil with ferrous sulfate plus lime to lower AsIVBA was estimated to be an order of magnitude less than excavation and landfill disposal on the Island of Hawaii, making the technology a viable alternative when remedial action objectives were based on AsIVBA levels.

English

The microcalorimetric method was applied to analyze the influences of successive reforestations with Eucalyptus granddis × E. uophylla, Pinus massoniana, and continuous sugarcane production on the soil microbial activities. 500 g of each refined representative sample was collected in rainy and dry seasons from four 100 m2 homogeneously and perfectly defined acrisol quadrats in subtropical China. Two of them were Eucalyptus plantations with 10 (E10) and 20 (E20) year–old stands. The other two were 10–year–old pine tree plantation (P10) and sugarcane land (SL10) correspondingly contiguous to E10 and E20 and used as references for E10 and E20, respectively. Blocks of E10/P10 were 1500 m away from that of E20/SL10. Microcalorimetric experiments were carried out using 1.2 g soil samples and 0.6 ml of solution containing 5.0 mg of glucose and 5.0 mg of ammonium sulphate at 28°C. The effects of land management practice on soil quality were examined by measuring their physicochemical and biological properties. The results showed that: 1) zymogeneous bacteria were the dominated microbes in the land of continuous sugarcane production, but autochthonous floras were the ones for forest; 2) when compared with its control (SL10), land of eucalyptus (E20) had lower soil packing degree and inhibitory effect on microbial activities, but higher seasonal fluctuation in microbe constitution and activities under the same circumstance; 3) compared with its control P10, the land of eucalyptus E10 had alike soil packing degree and higher seasonal fluctuation degree of microbial activities, but lower inhabiting degree of soil microbial metabolism.   Key words: Microcalorimetry, microbial activity, eucalyptus, pine tree, sugarcane.

EFFECT OF"F'ORESTFIRE ON LIVESTOCK PRODUCnON··· IN THE PELWATTE AREA OF MONERAGALA DISTRICT

Sugar-cane cultivation has been a predominant agricultural activity in the district ofMoneragala in addition to paddy and chena cultivation. Nevertheless, dairying has.become a viable family industry for many fanners in this area. Mainly cattle andbuffaloes are allowed to graze freely in adjacent forest lands but due to frequent forest fireoccurring during certain period/s of the year, the level of milk production is badlyaffected. Therefore the objectives of this study were to gather baseline information toassess the type of forest fire, their frequency of occurring, the purpose of setting forestfire and the impact of forest fire on dairy industryMajority of fanners (>80%) were involved in the cultivation of sugar cane and other cashcrops under rain-fed condition. Women and children playa major role (74%) in livestockrearing. Main genotypes of cattle and buffaloes found were local and non-descriptivetypes.Animals are sent for grazing in nearby forestlands and feed shortages were observedduring the dry period. It was observed at the same time of occurring forest fire, there wasa drastic decline of forages and other available feed resources such as tree fodder,legumes etc.90% of the forest fire that occur once a year during the period of June to August.Sometimes it occurs twice a year during the periods of June to August and February toMarch where the most of the forest fire are crown fire and creeping fire. Purposes ofsetting fire are to obtain tender shoots as an animal feed (90%) and also for chenacultivation, for hunting specially undergrowth is burnt to search for animals and at thetime of harvesting the weedy sugarcane lands (under poor management) are beingsubjected to setting fire (10%). Feed shortages can be observed due to forest fire as wellas the prevailing dry spell during the periods of June to end of September and February toMarch. As a result of this a drastic decline of average milk yield (from 1.52 I± 0.326 to0.22S±0.162 1) can be observed. Visual observations proved that the body conditions ofthe animals are also badly affected during forest fire occurring periodsGunia spp., Ipil Ipil, Acasia, Illuk and Gliricidia are the main herbage species that areused to feed animals. As they are susceptible to fire, a severe shortage of animal feed canbe observed during these periods. On the other hand forest fire as well as buffaloes/cattlegrazing in forests causes a significant competition among wild animals in finding feedrecourses.The main impact, which is reduction of milk yield during the periods of forest fire can bereduced by introducing low inputs and particularly by training the farmers to prepareanimal feeds out of sugar cane by products such as molasses, bagasses and other wastematerials which are available in this area.

Remote Sensing Time Series to Evaluate Direct Land Use Change of Recent Expanded Sugarcane Crop in Brazil

The use of biofuels to mitigate global carbon emissions is highly dependent on direct and indirect land use changes (LUC). The direct LUC (dLUC) can be accurately evaluated using remote sensing images. In this work we evaluated the dLUC of about 4 million hectares of sugarcane expanded from 2005 to 2010 in the South-central region of Brazil. This region has a favorable climate for rain-fed sugarcane, a great potential for agriculture expansion without deforestation, and is currently responsible for almost 90% of Brazilian’s sugarcane production. An available thematic map of sugarcane along with MODIS and Landast images, acquired from 2000 to 2009, were used to evaluate the land use prior to the conversion to sugarcane. A systematic sampling procedure was adopted and the land use identification prior to sugarcane, for each sample, was performed using a web tool developed to visualize both the MODIS time series and the multitemporal Landsat images. Considering 2000 as reference year, it was observed that sugarcane expanded: 69.7% on pasture land; 25.0% on annual crops; 0.6% on forest; while 3.4% was sugarcane land under crop rotation. The results clearly show that the dLUC of recent sugarcane expansion has occurred on more than 99% of either pasture or agriculture land.

Remote Sensing Images in Support of Environmental Protocol: Monitoring the Sugarcane Harvest in São Paulo State, Brazil

Traditional manual sugarcane harvesting requires the pre-harvest burning practice which should be gradually banned by 2021 for most of São Paulo State, Brazil, on cultivated sugarcane land (terrain slope ≤12%) according to State Law number 11241. To forward the end of this practice to 2014, a “Green Ethanol” Protocol was established in 2007. The present work aims at analyzing five years of continuous sugarcane harvest monitoring, based on remote sensing images, to evaluate the effectiveness of the Protocol, thus helping decision makers to establish public policies to meet the Protocol’s expected goals. During the last five crop years, sugarcane acreage expanded by 1.5 million ha, which was compensated by a correspondent increase in the green harvested land. However, no significant reduction was observed in the amount of pre-harvest burned land over the same period. Based on the current trend, this goal is likely to be achieved one or two years later (2015–2016), which will be five or six years ahead of 2021 as the goal in the State Law number 11241 states. We thus conclude that the“Green Ethanol” Protocol has been effective with a positive impact on the increase of GH, especially on recently expanded sugarcane fields.

A review of sediment and nutrient concentration data from Australia for use in catchment water quality models

Land use (and land management) change is seen as the primary factor responsible for changes in sediment and nutrient delivery to water bodies. Understanding how sediment and nutrient (or constituent) concentrations vary with land use is critical to understanding the current and future impact of land use change on aquatic ecosystems. Access to appropriate land-use based water quality data is also important for calculating reliable load estimates using water quality models. This study collated published and unpublished runoff, constituent concentration and load data for Australian catchments. Water quality data for total suspended sediments (TSS), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were collated from runoff events with a focus on catchment areas that have a single or majority of the contributing area under one land use. Where possible, information on the dissolved forms of nutrients were also collated. For each data point, information was included on the site location, land use type and condition, contributing catchment area, runoff, laboratory analyses, the number of samples collected over the hydrograph and the mean constituent concentration calculation method.A total of ∼750 entries were recorded from 514 different geographical sites covering 13 different land uses. We found that the nutrient concentrations collected using “grab” sampling (without a well defined hydrograph) were lower than for sites with gauged auto-samplers although this data set was small and no statistical analysis could be undertaken. There was no statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between data collected at plot and catchment scales for the same land use. This is most likely due to differences in land condition over-shadowing the effects of spatial scale. There was, however, a significant difference in the concentration value for constituent samples collected from sites where >90% of the catchment was represented by a single land use, compared to sites with <90% of the upstream area represented by a single land use. This highlights the need for more single land use water quality data, preferably over a range of spatial scales. Overall, the land uses with the highest median TSS concentrations were mining (∼50,000mg/l), horticulture (∼3000mg/l), dryland cropping (∼2000mg/l), cotton (∼600mg/l) and grazing on native pastures (∼300mg/l). The highest median TN concentrations are from horticulture (∼32,000μg/l), cotton (∼6500μg/l), bananas (∼2700μg/l), grazing on modified pastures (∼2200μg/l) and sugar (∼1700μg/l). For TP it is forestry (∼5800μg/l), horticulture (∼1500μg/l), bananas (∼1400μg/l), dryland cropping (∼900mg/l) and grazing on modified pastures (∼400μg/l). For the dissolved nutrient fractions, the sugarcane land use had the highest concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP). Urban land use had the highest concentrations of dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP). This study provides modellers and catchment managers with an increased understanding of the processes involved in estimating constituent concentrations, the data available for use in modelling projects, and the conditions under which they should be applied. Areas requiring more data are also discussed.

Spatio-temporal variation in soil derived nitrous oxide emissions under sugarcane

Nitrous oxide (N 2O) is a significant greenhouse gas with a global warming potential that is 300 times than that of carbon dioxide. Soil derived N 2O emissions usually display a high degree of spatial and temporal variability because of their dependence on soil chemical and physical properties, and climate dependent environmental factors. However, there is little research that incorporates spatial dependence in the estimation of N 2O emissions allowing for environmental factors in the same model. This study aims to examine the impact of two environmental factors (soil temperature and soil moisture) on N 2O emissions and explore the spatial structure of N 2O in the sub-tropical South East Queensland region of Australia. The replicated data on N 2O emissions and soil properties were collected at a typical sugarcane land site covering 25 uniform grid points across 3600 m 2 between October 2007 and September 2008. A Bayesian conditional autoregressive (CAR) model was used to model spatial dependence. Results showed that soil moisture and soil temperature appeared to have substantially different effects on N 2O emissions after taking spatial dependence into account in the four seasons. There was a substantial variation in the spatial distribution of N 2O emission in the different seasons. The high N 2O emission regions were accompanied by high uncertainty and changed in varying seasons in this study site. Spatial CAR models might be more plausible to elucidate and account for the uncertainty arising from unclear variables and spatial variability in the assessment of N 2O emissions in soils, and more accurately identify relationships with key environmental factors and help to reduce the uncertainty of the soil parameters.

The impacts of global change in the humid tropics: selected rainfall-runoff issues linked with tropical forest-land management

Within the framework of IWRM, a major concern in the humid tropics is the effects of ‘global warming’ on the storm rainfall-runoff hydrology of both forests and converted forest lands. Further how such effects need to be incorporated within adaptive, forest-water-land management. But since the mid- 20th century, dramatic changes in land- use (LU) and land cover (LC) have also occurred which have led to rapid rates of deforestation and an expansion of land—forest degradation. How much these man-induced impacts have been influential on climate –water relations, as against the effects of inherent climate variability and predicted climate change scenarios, still remains a major challenge to quantify. Thus embedded within the global warming issue are these additional LU/LC change impacts on climate-rainfall-storm runoff across scales which also require consideration under the broader mandate of ‘global change’. The work will initially succinctly summarize the existing uncertainties linked with both Global Climate Models (GCMs). Subsequently more detailed attention will be given to uncertainties linked with LC/LU change. The experiences of hurricane Mitch in Central America will then set the scene for an alternative strategy. A principle message is a call for more concentrated research effort on geographically the outer margins of the ‘maritime continent’ (centred on the Indonesian Archipelago) in the Western Pacific where tropical cyclone frequency is very high. This region presents a diversity of socio-economies and an opportunity to produce adapted forest-land management measures in preparation for future global change (warming and anthropogenic). Such measures can then be extrapolated to currently less frequently, affected areas from extreme events like hurricane Mitch. Examples from research in the tropical- cyclone prone, “Wet Tropics” of northeast Australia linked with the management of tropical rainforests and the adjoining sugar cane lands are then used to demonstrate these opportunities.

Land price premiums in South Africa's land redistribution process: A case study of Northern Kwazulu-Natal sugarcane farms

ABSTRACT The desire to transfer 30 per cent of commercial farmland into the hands of black South Africans has progressed slower than anticipated. Politicians and government officials have blamed the market approach to the purchase of land for the challenges and failures in the process. An analysis of the transfer of sugarcane land in two districts in KwaZulu-Natal over the period 2000 to 2006 permitted a comparison of the prices paid to commercial farmers both in private transactions and in the case of sales to government. Data did not support the contention that the slow rate of transfer was due to a manipulation of land prices by landowners in an attempt to stall the process. It was concluded that the state lost most of its bargaining power in the land reform market due to the drawn out nature of the land valuation processes.

Effect of conversion of sugarcane plantation to forest and pasture on soil carbon in Hawaii

It is well known that land use change can affect soil C storage of terrestrial ecosystems either by altering the biotic processes involved in carbon cycling or by altering abiotic processes such as carbon adsorption on soil minerals. Relatively few studies, however, have examined the dynamics of soil C pools after conversion of farmland to forest or pasture. We selected three pairs of secondary forests and pastures that originated from the same abandoned sugarcane (interspecific hybrids of Saccharum spp.) land in the wet tropics of Hawaii to examine whether forest or pasture converted from farmland is more effective in sequestering C in soils. We compared the soil C pool, soil chemistry, and stable C isotope ratios between the forests and pastures. We found that total soil C was greater (P < 0.01) in forests than in the pastures 22 years after land conversion. The percentages of SOC4 in the pastures were significantly higher than in the secondary forests in both soil layers. The percentages of SOC3 in the pastures were lower than in the secondary forests in both soil layers. The net SOC3 increase in the forest soils at 0–10 and 10–25 cm was 28.6 ± 5.6 and 43.9 ± 3.2 Mg ha−1 while net SOC4 increase in pasture soils at these respective depths was 18.8 ± 2.2 and 26.1 ± 2.7 Mg ha−1. We found that the net increases of SOC3 in both soil layers in the forest were greater (P < 0.01) than the net increases of SOC4 in the respective soil layers in the pasture. Aluminum saturation was greater (P < 0.01) in the forests than the pastures in both soil layers. There was no difference in oxalate extractable Fe concentration between the forests and the pastures but oxalate extractable Al concentration in both soil layers was greater (P < 0.05) in forests than the pastures. Our findings indicated that reforestation of abandoned sugarcane farmland in Hawaii is more effective in soil C increase and stabilization than conversion to pasture.

Trace metal enrichment in sugarcane soils due to the long-term application of fertilisers, North Queensland, Australia: geochemical and Pb, Sr, and U isotopic compositions

This study aimed to determine whether &gt;80 years of fertiliser application has led to recognisable changes in the trace metal (Cd, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sr, Th, U, Zn) chemistry of topsoils (0–0.10 m) from sugarcane land, northern Queensland, Australia. The metal concentrations of commercial nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) fertilisers currently used in northern Queensland were generally lower than those of phosphate fertilisers and fertiliser blends. Composite topsoil samples (0–0.10 m depth) taken from canelands had higher median Cd, Mo, Pb, Sr, Th, U, and Zn concentrations than topsoils from forested areas of the catchment. Niobium, Ta, and Ti were confirmed as refractory immobile elements and used as reference elements for the evaluation of trace metal enrichments. Bivariate plots of trace metal/immobile element ratios verified that Cd, Mo, Pb, Sr, Th, U, and Zn are enriched in sugarcane soils compared with background forest soils. Isotopic ratios for Pb, Sr, and U highlight that fertilisers, cane soils, and forest soils have isotopically distinct compositions. Phosphate fertilisers currently used in the agricultural industry possess the most radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr, 234U/238U, 207Pb/206Pb, and 208Pb/206Pb ratios. Background forest soils have the highest 87Sr/86Sr, 207Pb/206Pb, and 208Pb/206Pb and lowest 234U/238U ratios. By contrast, cane soils exhibit 207Pb/206Pb and 208Pb/206Pb ratios that appear on a mixing line between the isotopically distinct background soils and phosphate fertilisers. Also, cane soils possess 234U/238U ratios similar to phosphate fertilisers. Thus, the application of phosphate fertilisers to canelands has resulted in higher Cd, Mo, Pb, Sr, Th, U, and Zn concentrations and more radiogenic Pb, Sr, and U isotope ratios in cane soils. Trace metal ratios and the Pb, Sr, and U isotopic composition of topsoils and fertilisers are useful tools to recognise fertiliser-derived trace metals in agricultural landscapes.

Unplanned rural living and its policy implications: Some findings from Bundaberg, Australia

Research conducted in the Bundaberg Region in north-eastern Australia sought to explain the pattern of unplanned rural living and to assess whether its impacts are adverse enough to warrant land use policy change. It found there was limited conversion of suitable sugarcane land to ‘unplanned’ rural living during the 1980–2000 period. Parcels converted to unplanned rural living during this period were, on average, much smaller, had lower agricultural production potential, and were situated in more undulating and forested landscapes further from Bundaberg than parcels that remained in sugarcane production. A comprehensive conceptual framework was developed to inform empirical analyses based on data from individual sales as observation units. It provided the rationale for excluding the difficult to measure influences of a landowner's attachment to the land, and inertia, as explanatory variables. The empirical analyses included using logit models to explain the choice, at the time of a relevant sale, between using parcels for unplanned rural living or sugarcane production. The expected income from production of sugarcane had the greatest weight of all explanatory variables included in the models and was statistically significant in explaining the choice of land use. More undulating and forested landscapes also contributed significantly to the decision to use parcels for unplanned rural living, but this factor appeared to be of secondary importance to productive potential. Unexpectedly, the presence of a house on a parcel was not a significant explanatory factor, although this may have been affected by the particular circumstances of the study area. The findings do not provide support for a policy change to the entitlement for owners to build a house on each rural parcel, irrespective of size. Instead they provide support for the approach of determining the minimum parcel size for subdivision of rural land based on the area required to prevent conversion to unplanned rural living, rather than the area required for a viable farm. Further research is required, in the particular circumstances of each urban/agricultural region, to determine the minimum parcel size that will avoid inappropriate conversion to unplanned rural living.

Peranan Inovasi Kelembagaan Pabrik Gula Madukismo Terhadap Pelaksanaan Usahatani Tebu di Propinsi Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta

This research aims are, first analyzing the factors affecting farmers’ opportunities to adopt sugarcane farming organization as considered by Madukismo SP and the second determining the transactional cost of TR Kemitraan, the organization of TR KSU, and the organization of sugarcane farming as Autonomy (TR Mandiri). Research’s findings is farmers’ opportunity to adopt Madukismo SP’s sugarcane farming organizational innovation has been simultaneously affected by sugarcane land wide transaction cost, rendement, the experience of managing sugarcane farming, and respondent education. Considering the transaction cost charged against sugarcane farmers, the farmers with the farming of TR Mandiri bear the higher transaction cost than farmers who adopt the farming of TR KSU and TR Kemitraan.   Keywords: Multinomial logistic regression, transaction cost, sugarcane farming as business cooperation (TR KSU) and sugarcane farming as partnership (TR Kemitraan), sugarcane farming as Autonomy (TR Mandiri).

Question of Partnerships: Environmental Management in Queensland's Sugar Cane Industry

Effective partnerships among government, industry and community actors are increasingly being identified as crucial to the effectiveness of natural resource management activities both in Australia and overseas. Three types of partnerships are identified from the literature and discussed. This paper describes the nature of partnerships affecting land use allocation in Queensland's sugar industry, based on a case study of the Herbert River District in north Queensland. By reviewing relevant government and industry documents, the process of sugarcane land allocation, and the role of non-industry officials in that process, it is suggested that substantial scope for improvement exists.

Status of sugar industry in Mauritius: Constraints and future research strategies

Sugarcane is presently cultivated on 72 000 hectares, representing 85 percent of the arable land in Mauritius. On average, 600 000 tonnes sugar is produced annually with most (530 000 tonnes) of the sugar being exported to the European Union. Domestic consumption of sugar is about 40 000 tonnes per year. The success of the sugar industry in Mauritius has to a significant extent been due to the preferential trade agreements that the country benefited successively from the United Kingdom and from the European Union. The stable revenues from sugar exports have served to develop not only the local sugar industry but have also fostered the diversification of the Mauritian economy, with rapid growth during the 1980s and 1990s of tourism, financial services and manufacturing industries geared towards export. The share of sugar production in the Mauritian economy has consequently over the years and in relative terms dwindled to about 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product in 2003 (from 25 percent in the 1970s). Sugar production nevertheless remains an important contributor to the country’s economy with sugar exports still representing about 19 percent of foreign exchange earnings. In the face of the new economic order which is taking shape and stronger competition on the traditional markets to which Mauritius exports its sugar, a lowering of prices now obtained for Mauritian sugar is inevitable in the short to medium term. To survive, the Mauritian sugar industry must strive to be more competitive. At present, the cost of cane sugar production in Mauritius is among the highest due to a low milling capacity (3700 tonnes cane crushed per day by the 11 existing mills), a short milling season (an average of only 132 days per year), a high ratio of labour to total production costs with field labour making up 80% of the total labour costs. The rockiness in some 40 000 hectares of sugar cane lands hindering the adoption of mechanized cultural practices is also a constraint to sugar production in Mauritius. In addition, though Mauritius is a well-watered island with an average annual rainfall of 2500 mm per year the uneven distribution of that rainfall coupled with high rates of evaporation (1870 mm annually in the northern and western coastal areas) give rise to a moisture deficit of moderate to severe degree and sustained production is not possible without irrigation in the coastal regions. To enable the sugar cane industry of Mauritius to survive, research strategies must be aimed at both decreasing production costs of sugar while at the same time increasing productivity per unit of resources. Those research strategies encompass all the scientific disciplines of agronomy, namely irrigation, nitrogen nutrition, cultural operations and also includes research and development on mechanisation of cultural practices, breeding of high yielding varieties with high sucrose and fibre content with good ratooning potential for sustainable production levels.

A Question of Partnerships: Environmental Management in Queensland's Sugar Cane Industry

Effective partnerships among government, industry and community actors are increasingly being identified as crucial to the effectiveness of natural resource management activities both in Australia and overseas. Three types of partnerships are identified from the literature and discussed. This paper describes the nature of partnerships affecting land use allocation in Queensland's sugar industry, based on a case study of the Herbert River District in north Queensland. By reviewing relevant government and industry documents, the process of sugarcane land allocation, and the role of non-industry officials in that process, it is suggested that substantial scope for improvement exists.