This article assesses sugarcane yield gaps (YG) in Brazil to determine the degree to which production can be increased without land expansion. In our scenario assessments, we evaluated how much of the projected sugarcane demand to 2024 (for both sugar and bioethanol) can be satisfied through YG closure. The current national average yield is 62% of yield potential estimated for rainfed condition...

Ramu Sugar Plantation was established in 1979. This paper presents an overview of changes in soil chemical and physical properties that have resulted from continuous sugarcane cultivation since that time. Between 1979 and 1996, the soil pH decreased from about 6.5 to 5.8 and this acidification was accompanied by a decrease in cation exchange capacity and exchangeable cations. Organic carbon lev...

The consumption of bioethanol as biofule may reduce greenhouse gases, gasoline imports. Also it can be replaced with lead or MTBE (Methyl tert-butyl ether) that are air and underground water pollutants, respectively. Plants are the best choice for meeting the projected bioethanol demands. For this scope, a comparative analysis of the technological options using different feedstocks should be pe...

Sugarcane bagasse and trash may be used as feedstock for second generation ethanol production. Production of second generation ethanol integrated with first generation plants processing sugarcane presents several advantages over the stand-alone second generation ethanol production process; however, bagasse is used as fuel to supply the energy demand of the first generation process, so the amoun...

corporate social responsibility is a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business activities and interactions  with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. in this global context, voluntary social and environmental practices of business which go beyond companies’ existing legal obligations play a major role in filling the governance gap in an innovati...

Plants respond to pathogens and insect attacks by inducing and accumulating a large set of defense-related proteins. Two homologues of a barley wound-inducible protein (BARWIN) have been characterized in sugarcane, SUGARWIN1 and SUGARWIN2 (sugarcane wound-inducible proteins). Induction of SUGARWINs occurs in response to Diatraea saccharalis damage but not to pathogen infection. In addition, the...

In many crop producing areas of the world there are reports of yield decline and loss of productive potential in soils. Little is known about the long term effects of sugarcane monocropping on changes in physical, chemical and biological properties of soils. The aim of this study was to quantify the physical and chemical condition of soils under sugarcane production in northern Kwazulu-Natal, a...

Cellulase production was evaluated in two reference strains (T. reesei Rut-C30 and T. reesei QM9414), two strains isolated from a sugarcane cultivation area (Trichoderma sp. IPT778 and T. harzianum rifai IPT821) and one strain isolated in a program for biodiversity preservation in São Paulo state (Myceliophthora thermophila M77). Solid state cultures were performed using sugarcane bagasse (C), ...

The production and characterization of cellulase from thermophilic strain Bacillus sp. C1AC5507 was studied. For enzyme production, sugarcane bagasse was used as carbon source. The produced carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase) had a molecular weight around 55 kDa and its activity varied between 0.14 and 0.37 IU mL in conditions predicted by Response Surface Methodology. The optimum temperature and ...