Economic viability of the mechanized harvesting system in financial cash of a sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) mill

Abstract

Brazil is the world's largest producer of sugarcane for sugar, alcohol, and bioenergy mills. These mills have been taking into account production costs in order to facilitate financial control, assist in the decision-making process to profit from agricultural activity, and to be more competitive in the market. The mills invest in the acquisition of harvesters and tractor-trailer combinations to enable the cutting, harvesting, and internal loading of sugarcane. However, the acquisition of the mechanized harvesting system machines requires a high investment on the projected cash flow of the mill. Therefore, this study aims to identify the economic viability of a mechanized sugarcane harvesting system for the financial cash of the mill. The methodology considers the costs of implantation and cultivation of the crop of projected future seasons, cost analysis using the net present value and the internal rate of return, and reference mechanisms such as the benefit-cost ratio, discounted payback, and break-even point. This methodology was used to compose the financial cash of the mill, which also included the use of secondary data. In order to generate data for the mechanized sugarcane harvesting system, the “ColheCana” computational model was adopted as the management platform. The results showed that the mechanized harvesting system using a single-row harvester reached the break-even point in the fourth harvest, while the system using a two-row harvester reached the break-even point in the third harvest.