Brazil's Sugarcane Industry Hit Hard! 8 Billion Real Losses Behind: Worm Infestation, Annual Yield Reduction up to 2%!

A recent in-depth collaborative study conducted by the State University of Sao Paulo and the Brazilian Sugarcane Technology Center (CTC) has revealed that Brazil's sugarcane industry is facing a serious threat from a species called Diatraea saccharalis. The infestation of this pest causes the country's sugar cane industry to lose up to 8 billion reais ($1.4 billion) a year.

The collaborative study revealed a worrying phenomenon: each 1 percent increase in sugarcane borers infection rate resulted in a 0.96 to 2.06 percent decrease in ethanol yield per hectare and a 0.43 to 1.97 percent decrease in sugar yield per hectare. The degree of influence varies with different sugarcane varieties. This finding further highlights the huge impact of sugarcane borer on sugarcane, ethanol and sugar production, as well as the huge losses caused during industrial processing. The study also noted that these losses could have been avoided if harvests had been carried out in fields with less sugarcane damage.

According to data provided by market research company Kynetec, chemical and biological control measures for sugarcane borer have been significantly strengthened in the Brazilian sugarcane industry in recent years. Both coverage and frequency of application have increased, with the number of applications increasing from an average of 1.2 to 1.9 per year. However, benchmarking information from the CTC shows that the final infestation intensity of sugarcane borers has barely changed, suggesting that the efficiency of traditional control methods is not ideal.

Since 2017, the CTC has been promoting genetically modified (BT) sugarcane varieties, which have shown a success rate of more than 95% in controlling sugarcane borer, much higher than traditional methods. The use of BT cane not only improves the efficiency of pest control, but also promotes the increase of ethanol production and sugar productivity in industrial processing.

The introduction of BT cane reduces the concentration of ash, starch and total phenolic compounds, resulting in improved sugar quality, which is reflected in the lower ICUMSA (International Committee for Uniform Methods of Analysis of Sugars) color rating. BT sugarcane is currently adopted by more than 180 users, including sugar mills and suppliers, who are responsible for about 60% of domestic sugarcane processing. The CTC stressed that the use of biotechnology and the expansion of acreage are key to improving the productivity and competitiveness of the sugar energy industry, while always focusing on the sustainability and profitability of the industry.