Technological parameters and economic analysis of sugarcane cultivated under irrigation depths for ethanol production in Santa Maria-RS, Brazil

Abstract

This study aimed to perform economic analysis and evaluate the effect of technological parameters on plant and ratoon sugarcane under irrigation depths for ethanol production. Treatments were irrigation of 30, 60, 90, and 120% of ET c and a control treatment (no irrigation). The experimental design was a randomized block with six repetitions. We used a drip irrigation system with management based on crop evapotranspiration, according to the methodology proposed by FAO. In rainfed and under irrigation plant cane, the variable cost represented 54.40 and 66.81% and the fixed cost represented 45.60 and 33.19%, respectively. The difference in the cost of production in rainfed and irrigated was 27.23 and 57.20%, for the plant cane and ratoon, respectively. Moreover, we presented the economic viability, which for sugarcane grown in rainfed is 60% of ET c , with differences in the cost of production and net profit of 53.94 and 52.20%, and financial return in the year of implementation and 4 years and 4 months, respectively. The irrigation increased technological parameters for ethanol production. For plant cane, the only variable that showed no statistically significant difference was the fiber, and for ratoon cane the technological parameters did not have statistically significant difference.