Brasília – The zoning proposal for agribusiness of sugarcane, issued today (17) by the federal government, prohibits the construction of new mills and the expansion of cultivation in any area of the Amazon, of the Pantanal, in the Northern Area of the Paraguay River basin or in other areas of natural biomes. The bill should now be sent to the National Congress.
These areas, added to those on which cultivation is not allowed, as is the case with conservation units and Indian land, make it illegal to cultivate cane on 92.5% of the Brazilian territory.
The prohibition included in the zoning plan establishes that areas for cultivation of cane may reach 64 million hectares. When taking into consideration the new bill, sugarcane may be cultivated on 7.5% of the national territory. Currently, cultivation occupies an area of just 8.89 million hectares, which represents less than 1% of the national territory.
In the evaluation of the local government, zoning should make the production of ethanol even more efficient, stimulating the proven benefit of the current biofuel produced from sugarcane.
There is already a government intention of reaching 2017 with growth of almost 100% in production of ethanol and when compared to the current production level, which would elevate the cultivated area to 1.7% of the country territory. Figures supplied by the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel) show that sugarcane ethanol produces 90% less greenhouse gas than petrol.
To fully reach the objectives presented in the sugarcane agro-ecological zoning, the government plans to allow production only in areas in which there is no irrigation and where production may be mechanized. For this reason, president Lula singed a decree guiding the National Monetary Council to establish new conditions, criteria and options of rural credit for agroindustry.
*Translated by Mark Ament
