Agricultural planning for mechanized sugarcane harvesting

Abstract

Sugarcane was introduced to Brazil in 1532 and currently represents an important factor to the Brazilian economy. Due to the growth in the consumption of ethanol and sugar, the production process has undergone important changes, mainly in harvesting methods. The manual and semi-mechanized harvesting systems once used have been replaced by fully-mechanized approaches. This change has occurred due factors as reduction in harvesting cost, the decreasing supply of skilled labor, among others. [...]