Sugarcane
The tall, jointed stalks of Saccharum officinarum rise 2 to 6 meters above the soil in New Guinea. This specific region serves as the primary center for the plant's original domestication by Papuan people. Archaeological evidence suggests that selective breeding began around 6,000 years before present from native Saccharum robustum strains. Austronesian sailors later carried these cuttings across vast ocean distances to Polynesia and Island Melanesia during prehistoric times. The same maritime groups introduced the crop to India and Southern China by 500 BC through established trade routes. Persians and Greeks encountered what they called reeds producing honey without bees between the sixth and fourth centuries BC. They adopted this agricultural practice and spread it westward into the Mediterranean basin. By the eighth century, sugar had become a luxurious spice traded across North Africa and the Middle East.
Christopher Columbus first brought sugarcane to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola during his second voyage to the Americas. The first recorded harvest occurred on that island in 1501. Sugar mills were subsequently constructed in Cuba and Jamaica throughout the 1520s. Portuguese traders introduced the crop to Brazil where 800 cane sugar mills existed on Santa Catarina Island by 1540. Another 2,000 mills appeared along the north coast of Brazil, Demarara, and Suriname shortly after. This expansion created a triangular trade system involving New World raw materials, European manufactured goods, and African slaves. Profits from selling sugar funded the purchase of goods shipped to West Africa for bartering with enslaved people. These individuals were then transported back to the Caribbean to work under brutal coercion on plantations. The passage of the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act led to the abolition of slavery through most of the British Empire. West Indian planters found cheap labor in China and India subject to indenture contracts binding them to unfree labor for fixed terms. The first ships carrying indentured laborers from India departed in 1836.
Global production of sugarcane reached 1.9 billion tonnes in 2020 with Brazil accounting for 40% of the total. About 70% of global sugar comes from Saccharum officinarum and its complex hybrids. Average worldwide yields stood at 74 tonnes per hectare in 2022 while Peru led with 121 tonnes per hectare. Sugarcane requires tropical or subtropical climates with minimum annual moisture levels for continuous growth. It is one of the most efficient photosynthesizers converting up to 1% of incident solar energy into biomass. Modern stem cutting has become the most common reproduction method replacing seed production entirely. Each cutting must contain at least one bud before being planted by hand or machine. In technologically advanced countries like the United States and Australia, billet planting allows mechanical harvesters to open ground and reclose it automatically. Successive harvests called ratoons give decreasing yields eventually justifying replanting after two to ten cycles depending on culture type. Mechanical harvesting uses combine machines that cut stalks at the base and strip leaves before depositing them into transporters following alongside. Such machines can harvest large quantities each hour but require rapid processing once cut.
Mills extract raw sugar from freshly harvested cane through a traditional two-stage process involving crushing and boiling. Bagasse represents the residual dry fiber remaining after juice extraction serves multiple industrial purposes including fuel generation. Dried filter cake functions as animal feed supplement fertilizer and source of sugarcane wax. Molasses produced in blackstrap form contains strong flavor characteristics while purer syrups blend with maple syrup or corn syrup. Blackstrap molasses sells as food dietary supplement and ingredient for producing ethanol rum and citric acid. Ethanol generally available as byproduct acts as biofuel alternative widely used in cars throughout Brazil. Gasoline required to contain at least 22% bioethanol sourced from Brazil's large sugarcane crop. One hectare of sugar cane yields approximately 4,000 liters of ethanol per year without additional energy input because bagasse exceeds distillation needs. Current technologies produce over 100 kilowatt hours of electricity per tonne of bagasse allowing export to national grids. Recent cogeneration plants designed to produce between 200 and 300 kilowatt hours per tonne manage seasonal storage strategically.
At least 20,000 people estimated to have died of chronic kidney disease in Central America over past two decades mostly sugarcane workers along Pacific coast. Working long hours in heat without adequate fluid intake contributes significantly to these fatalities. Some workers exposed to hazards including high temperatures harmful pesticides poisonous animals during manual cutting processes. In India especially Maharashtra production linked to forced labor through exploitative advance payment systems putting workers deeply in debt. Workers earn less than five dollars daily while living in makeshift tents lacking toilets electricity or running water. Child labor remains common despite being illegal alongside frequent child marriage among harvesters. Indian sugarcane production also links to unusually high rate of hysterectomies affecting one in five harvesting women pressured by producers. The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo bought significant amounts of sugar from Maharashtra since at least the 2010s denying complicity in abuses. Between 1863 and 1900 merchants brought between 55,000 and 62,500 people from South Pacific islands to work on Australian plantations. An estimated third coerced or kidnapped into slavery known as blackbirding while others paid very low wages.
Cultivation leads to increased soil loss through removal during harvest plus improper irrigation practices causing erosion. Erosion becomes significant when grown on slopes hillsides increasing water runoff rates beyond eight percent gradient recommendations. Seven countries devote more than half their land to cultivation replacing tropical rain forests wetlands entirely. Large quantity water required heavily relies on irrigation placing strain available resources requiring construction barrages dams altering aquatic habitats. This contributes degradation ecosystems such as Great Barrier Reef Indus Delta through sediment washing into waterways. Sugarcane fields have replaced vast areas contributing habitat destruction further expanding within past couple decades. Cultivation results in soil compaction caused by heavy infield machinery impacting invertebrate fauna upper layers decreasing porosity. Increased surface runoff leads greater leaching erosion carrying pollutants entering aquatic environments causing eutrophication acidification issues. Switching alternative irrigation techniques like drip irrigation improves water efficiency reducing overall consumption preventing pollutant entry. Trash mulching methods shown increase water intake storage decrease soil runoff preventing environmental contamination entering ecosystems.
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Common questions
Where did Saccharum officinarum originate and when was it domesticated?
Saccharum officinarum originated in New Guinea where Papuan people began selective breeding around 6,000 years before present. This specific region serves as the primary center for the plant's original domestication from native Saccharum robustum strains.
When did Christopher Columbus bring sugarcane to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola?
Christopher Columbus first brought sugarcane to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola during his second voyage to the Americas. The first recorded harvest occurred on that island in 1501.
How much global production of sugarcane reached in 2020 and which country accounts for most of it?
Global production of sugarcane reached 1.9 billion tonnes in 2020 with Brazil accounting for 40% of the total. About 70% of global sugar comes from Saccharum officinarum and its complex hybrids.
What environmental impact does sugarcane cultivation have on the Great Barrier Reef and Indus Delta?
Sugarcane fields contribute to ecosystem degradation such as the Great Barrier Reef and Indus Delta through sediment washing into waterways. Increased surface runoff leads greater leaching erosion carrying pollutants entering aquatic environments causing eutrophication acidification issues.
How many people died of chronic kidney disease among Central American sugarcane workers over the past two decades?
At least 20,000 people estimated to have died of chronic kidney disease in Central America over past two decades mostly sugarcane workers along Pacific coast. Working long hours in heat without adequate fluid intake contributes significantly to these fatalities.