Forest fires in Brazilian states such as São Paulo and Goiás have already caused losses estimated at more than R$2.5 billion, affecting approximately 390 thousand hectares and severely impacting agribusiness, especially sugar mills. sugar cane. ORPLANA presented these data during the webinar “Forest fires: prevention, combat and impacts on agribusiness”. The Brazilian Agribusiness Association (ABAG) and the Brazilian Agribusiness Association of the Ribeirão Preto Region (ABAG-RP) organized the event.
“Unfortunately, fires are unforeseen, uncontrolled and highly undesirable events in any agricultural activity. When combined with dry weather, they cause a drastic reduction in sugarcane productivity. Sugarcane producers are reorganizing themselves to plan the next steps, since the costs of replanting and management are very high. With the losses, sugarcane will only be able to regrow when the rains arrive uniformly and in large quantities. “In this scenario, we estimate a loss of approximately 15% in the sugarcane harvest compared to the previous harvest. This will directly affect the global supply of sugar and, consequently, ethanol prices,” explained José Guilherme Nogueira, CEO of ORPLANA.
São Paulo faces 433% increase in forest fires
Between January and September 2024, the state of São Paulo recorded almost 8,000 forest fires, representing an impressive increase of 4,33% compared to the previous year, affecting 430,000 hectares. As a result, the São Paulo government responded by creating a crisis cabinet, investing R$8.7 million in Conservation Units and mobilizing more than 20 aircraft to fight the fires. In addition, Flavio Okamoto, during the webinar, highlighted the importance of strengthening the municipal response and training civil defense agencies for more effective actions in fighting fires. Finally, the Public Prosecutor's Office proposed an action in partnership with DER and Artesp. The initiative suggests “fence-to-fence” mowing along roadsides, aiming to prevent the spread of fires.
On the other hand, the event addressed, in addition to the damage caused by the fires, the prevention and combat measures that are being implemented in São Paulo. Experts, representatives of the Fire Department and the Public Prosecutor's Office discussed the criminal investigations related to the causes of the fires.
Source: Leonardo Gottems | agrolink
