Exploratory Assessment of Sugarcane Crop (Saccharum spp.): Performance Landscape Approach

Abstract

Objective: Perform an exploratory analysis of sugar cane (Saccharum spp.) cultivation (CCA) through a performance landscape (PD) approach including an analytical description of the food balance sheet and performance indicators.

Design/methodology/approach: Three main dataset were constructed by using different statistic information systems, including eight performance variables-production, exports, imports, consumption per capita, acreage, production value, yield, farm-gate price, revenue per hectare on SCC, sugar products and 82 perennial crops (PC). Analytical description was based on municipality scale and temporal series (2003-2017). PL focused on the assessment of percentage proportion between SCC and PC, considering acreage and production value.

Results: Mexican consumption of sugar equivalent was decreasing in spite of its high consumption value (37.5 kg person^-1 y^-1). For 15 years, production of SCC and its acreage have gradually increased. Since farm gate prices showed a real increment (34%), production value and revenue per hectare (MX55676 ha^-1) also revealed growth. In contrast, yield (84 Mg ha^-1) stagnated (5%). PL assessment identified 94 municipalities where SCC dominates acreage and production value.

Limitations on study/implications: Descriptive analysis is powerful to characterize systems and shed light on improving understanding on the identification of driving factors, selecting a core dataset to measure their impacts and seeking for causality relationships.

Findings/conclusions: The integration of different information sources clarify the interrelations between economic, social and environmental themes, particularly in agriculture.