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The Pontal do Paranapanema is a conflictive territory composed of public lands but appropriated through falsified documentation that are the source of disputes between landowners, sugar-cane agribusiness groups and movements fighting for agrarian reform. The process of sugarcane expansion in the region led to the "enclosure" of the reform agrarian settlements by sugarcane plantations. Because of various difficulties, or even to obtain resources to improve their lands, settled workers have sought jobs in the sugar-cane mills. Currently, the sugarcane harvest is at an advanced stage of mechanisation, a fact that has repercussions on the different functions performed by the workers and on the risks in the work environment. To better understand these processes, we conducted interviews with people involved in mechanized work in the sugarcane sector and used interviews from the DataCETAS database. The results of the research show that the mechanization of cane cutting may have provided an improvement in working conditions, but the intense work and frenetic pace imposed on workers in order to increase labour productivity produce various risk agents in the work environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new configuration of the sugar-energy sector emerges in the current century, marked by a significant expansion inherent to the actions of the Government. Driven by this process, the Geographic Microregion (MRG) of Ituiutaba has, in the recent period, experienced a significant expansion of sugarcane production, confirmed by the insertion of four processing plants (three currently active). In this sense, the objective of this work is to evaluate the logic of the three sugar-energy plants located in the MRG of Ituiutaba, presenting their radius of action to understand the spaces activated by each of the units in the access to the raw material. This expansion of sugarcane cultivation occurred morely in areas destined for pastures (traditional for extensive cattle raising), resulting in the reconversion of these areas into sugarcane plantations in the recent period. We identified in the MRG the plants’ expansion of their theoretical radius of action to access the raw material due to the competition among the sugar-energy plants and other agribusiness agents. In this way, the sugar- energy plants activate very distant spaces to supply their crushing demand, reaching 94 km towards the Santa Vitória plant and 62 km towards the BP plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of expansion and technological changes on sugarcane plantations on the agricultural land structure in São Paulo state from 1975 to 2006 were studied. The Agricultural Census editions of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics were the main source of data, which were analyzed by non-conventional method. The expansion of sugarcane from 1996 to 2006 was accompanied by an increase in the participation of very large agricultural establishments and also the concentration of agricultural land ownership. The concentration of land ownership was less impacted, as entrepreneurs expanded their cane fields more by renting than by acquiring land. Among the main causes of sugarcane expansion were the strong vertical integration between sugar and ethanol factories and sugarcane plantations, not common in other activities that lost ground in São Paulo. In addition, the expansion of the mechanization of the sugarcane harvest made it difficult for small and medium suppliers to stay in sugarcane production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is based on various studies undertaken by the author on Forced Migrations in Mozambique and it introduces to the radiography of a country, which has brought forth housing spaces deemed incomplete, that have resulted from a combination of political-military tensions, natural disasters, development projects and international migration trends. Mozambique is a Southern African country, located in the southern East side of the continent. The Channel of Mozambique lies in east coast limit zone of Mozambique in an extension of 2700Km stretch. Since its independence from Portugal in 1975, the country has undergone through some significant metamorphoses in its geographical territorial space, originated by cyclical natural disasters, political and military events; social and economic factors that hindered development and made people not realize the true meaning of sedentary, as there is an emergency call towards Internally Displaced persons and refugees. It is on record that upon its independence, the country adopted a "hospitable policy" of hosting people that were escaping from oppressive regimes such as "the likes" of Chile, former Southern Rhodesia (currently Zimbabwe), East Timor and South Africa. Due to geographical location factors and the fact that the country enjoyed military peace between 1992 and 2013, Mozambique played an important role in hosting asylum seekers and refugees from the Region of Great lakes of Africa and the Horn of Africa, apart from investors and those who pretended to be investors, the country saw an influx of people from different parts of the world, Africa being the main contributor, Middle East, Europe, China, North America and Brazil have contributed to the spatial shape of Mozambique. It is important to refer that the immigrant population and those that are fleeing rarely fixe their "roots" in hosting countries. The reason being, it is possible to observe in all national territory the existence of places which reflects the reminiscent of a war thorn scenario, which either construction buildings are not yet concluded or are partially destroyed. The example of such, for instance the City of Xai-Xai in Southern Mozambique, with the heavy sand project, the province of Sofala and the unfinished Sugar plantation project while in Mandimba district in northern Mozambique, a place filled with ruins. The development projects in course reflect without a doubt the emergency character of a country with never-ending conflicts and under reconstruction. It is about a vicious cycle that along time remained an obstacle in allocating, housing spaces for construction purposes and for that I call incomplete spaces or unfinished spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to analyze different intensities of soil sampling for accuracy in geostatistical analysis and interpolation maps for precision agriculture in the sugarcane area. Soil samples were collected at two regular grids at a depth of 0.00 to 0.20m for granulometric analysis (area 1) and soil fertility (area 2). We compared soil sampling intensities: 208, 105, 58 and 24 points in Area 1 and 206, 102 and 53 points in Area 2. The data were submitted to descriptive analysis and geostatistics. The variograms constructed with 105 points didn't differ from variograms with 208 points, which doesn't occur for 58 and 24 points. The increase of sampling interval and reducing the number of points promote greater error in kriging. Samples with more than 100 points per area did not result in significant improvements in the error of kriging, or differed in the amount of fertilizer applied to the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The land structure of the Zona da Mata region of Pernambuco is characterized, since the beginning of European colonization, as latifundium and sugar cane plantation. These elements are still composing the region, despite the insertion in the field of new productive forms and working relationships. In this sense, the main objective of this article is understand and analyze the process of transformation of the Zona da Mata de Pernambuco and the consequences to the spatial organization of the region. The 1980s and 90s represent a landmark of temporal attempt to change this land structure on the part of the State forward the social tensions generated in the field. This way, there is a new logic in the production of sugar cane, with the territories reconfiguration, but with the perpetuation of power relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drying leaf samples in microwave oven may be a promising method if it does not affect the levels of nutrients in the samples, compared to conventional drying oven procedure. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of drying leaf samples using microwave oven on the foliar concentrations of macronutrients of brachiaria grass, cane sugar and guava. For this, a study was carried out in a 3x2 factorial arrangement, with three plant species and two drying methods, microwave oven and forced-air circulation oven, arranged in a randomized block design with six replications. Leaf samples were analyzed for determining their macronutrient levels. The drying methods did not affect foliar concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium in all three species studied. However, leaves dried in microwave oven showed higher values of sulfur in all three species. Also, Ca content was higher in guava leaves dried in microwave oven. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this work was to estimate the decendium effective rainfall to Goiana City (North Forest Zone), Pernambuco, Brazil, which has a great representation in the sugarcane industry of the State, aiming at helping the irrigation management and the rational use of water. The rainfall database used had a temporal scale from January 1981 to December 2009. The daily rainfall was grouped in a 10 days period and was adjusted to the Gamma probability density function so the probable rainfall could be obtained from 75 and 90% levels of probability. The effective rainfall was estimated by the methodologies of FAO, USDA and Fixed Percentage (PF), through the CROPWAT software. It was observed that the effective rainfall is affected by the seasonality of the rainfall regime in the region where the city is placed. In El-Niño years the USDA and 80% PF methods were considered the best, in years of hot waters in the south Tropical Atlantic the most appropriate methodology is the 20% FP, whilst the method proposed by FAO or 50% PF is more indicated for regular years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]