Stories that shape the future of agriculture

Artificial Intelligence, Data Analysis, Biostimulants and Decision Making

There are so many existing tools today for crop monitoring that they can end up being just colorful icons if they are not really used for their intended purposes. I remember very well when we started in 1995 in this sugarcane labor, by the way, this wonderful sugarcane labor. The trips to the field were with printed maps, and we would note down observations on them to later, in the office, mark each plot with colored markers to identify their respective anomalies and generate plans. But "things" worked very well because behind those printed maps there was a strong desire to get things done.

Almost 30 years have passed, and we have seen great progress, mainly regarding digital agriculture, making corrections much faster and more precise, with lower costs and greater effectiveness. We are users of Nax Solutions, which use satellites and artificial intelligence to monitor and analyze the crop, providing data that serves as a basis for making smarter decisions, optimizing resource use, reducing costs, and increasing productivity.

In our northeastern sugarcane region, we are preparing to start a new harvest and, as always, no year is the same as another, especially concerning the distribution of rainfall. On this day 03/09/2025, we can observe the following performances in the biomass index at two ages of the sugarcane field:

 The previous biomass curve represents the areas with 10 months as of 03/09/2025. A good performance is observed compared to previous years, although with a significant reduction between 4 and 6 months due to an intense warm spell experienced in March/April.

 Now observe the areas above that are 6 months old, showing a performance similar to previous years. It is precisely at this point that we must focus, seek strategies to achieve a different outcome, utilize technological resources that are best applied to production environments and that will provide the greatest returns: strategic irrigation focused mainly on meeting calculated water needs and not just “pouring” water, correcting leaf needs according to targeted and studied analyses for each production unit, saying “no” to commercial technological packages, making use of the most suitable biostimulants for each growth stage and also according to climatic conditions, among countless other nutrition and management tools that the market offers today.

In short! Study your sugarcane fields! Listen to what they want to tell you!

Ademario Afonso Araujo Filho

Agricultural Superintendent at Triunfo Agroindustrial LTDA