Technical and economical evaluation of hand and mechanized harvest of sugar cane (saccharum spp) in Bandeirantes – Pr

Abstract

The use of burning before the sugar cane harvest has suffered a lot of controversy for both the public organization and the society, worried about the environmental damages. The mechanized harvest of sugar cane has been discussed as one of the possible methods to avoid burning, and in the area around Bandeirantes this method has not been used yet. In this work it has been considered the technical economical viability of using self motive power reaper of sugar cane in rolls comparing to hand harvest cost of burning sugar cane so as provide subsidies that can help agriculture investments plans. The areas where the field decision has been performed were properties of Usina de Açucar e Alcool Bandeirantes, and the varieties of sugar cane used were: RB 72-454, SP 81-3250 and RB 85-5113, planted in a 1.40 m distance in a nitosoil arranged in down grade lower than 12%. The cost of mechanical harvest of sugar cane was 3.06 US$.t-1 and the cost of burnt sugar cane hand harvest was 4.14 U$.t-1. This was a 32.74% reduction in the price per each ton harvested. The operational capacity of the machine, estimated at 5.39 km.h-1 and efficiency of 60% in the field, was calculated in 0.45276 ha.h-1.