In: Wagner W., Székely, B. (eds.): ISPRS TC VII Symposium - 100 Years ISPRS, Vienna, Austria, July 5-7, 2010, IAPRS, Vol. XXXVIII, Part 7B 
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In all states, the area of sugarcane cultivation increased in every 
season. Sao Paulo was the state with the largest area, which 
reached approximately 4.9 million ha during the most recent 
season, representing 65.9% of the total area of sugarcane 
cultivation in the South-Central region (Figures 4a and 4b). 
Cartographic Institute (IGC) of the state of Sao Paulo for 
governmental planning purposes. Each RA is made up of 
several municipalities within a given geographical area with 
economic and social similarities (http://www.igc.sp.gov.br/ 
mapasRas.htm). 
The state of Mato Grosso had the smallest cultivated area and, 
consequently, the smallest area available for harvest, which 
reached 264.3 thousand ha during the most recent season, 
representing 3.6% of the available area in the South-Central 
region. Compared with the 2008/09 season, the annual growth 
rate declined in the 2009/10 season in all states except Mato 
Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. The latter was the only state 
where the annual growth rate increased in every season. 
Furthermore, it was the state with the greatest growth rate in the 
most recent season (42.7%). 
The state of Goiás had the greatest total growth rate (191.6%) 
between the 2005/06 and 2009/10 seasons (Figure 4d), followed 
by the states of Mato Grosso do Sul (185.3%) and Minas Gerais 
(130.6%). This fact can be explained by Goiás having shown 
the highest growth rates in every season except the most recent, 
in which it had the second highest rate. The primary reason for 
the strong growth of the area of sugarcane cultivation in these 
three states was the construction of new processing facilities in 
these locations. 
The lowest growth rate in the 2009/10 season was obtained for 
the state of Paraná (4.5%). This state was the second largest 
producer of sugarcane in the country until the 2008/09 season 
(Figure 4a and UNICA, 2009). However, after the 2009/10 
season, Paraná lost its position to Minas Gerais, which showed 
a higher growth rate (15.8%). The state of Paraná is the second 
largest producer of soybeans in Brazil, and this crop competes 
with the expansion of sugarcane in the state. When the area of 
soybean cultivation in Paraná declined during the 2005/06 and 
2007/08 seasons (CONAB, 2009), the area of sugarcane 
cultivation showed greater growth rates (Figure 4a). When the 
area of soybean cultivation increased again during the 2008/09 
and 2009/10 seasons, the expansion rate of the area of 
sugarcane cultivation declined again. In the 2009/10 season, the 
area of soybean cultivation in Paraná showed its highest growth 
rate among recent seasons (6.0%; CONAB, 2009). This may be 
one of the reasons why this state showed the lowest growth rate 
for sugarcane cultivation in the 2009/10 season. 
Although the state of Sào Paulo showed only the fifth highest 
total growth rate between the 2005/06 and 2009/10 seasons 
(60.7%; Figure 4d), the total area of expansion in that state was 
2.13 million ha. This area is 4.4 times greater than that of the 
state with the second greatest expansion, Minas Gerais, where 
sugarcane cultivation expanded by 488.6 thousand ha. Sào 
Paulo has a much larger total cultivated area than the other 
states; therefore, even a low growth rate will result in a large 
area of expansion. Notably, the total area of expansion is the 
sum of the new areas of sugarcane cultivation between the 
2005/06 and 2009/10 seasons. This area differs from the 
increase in the area available for harvest between the two 
seasons because it considers the variation in the areas under 
renovation, renovated areas, and areas that were no longer 
planted with sugarcane during each season. 
Figure 5 illustrates the total area of expansion between the 
2005/06 and 2009/10 seasons and the concentration of 
sugarcane in each Administrative Region (AR) of the state of 
Sào Paulo. The RAs were created by the Geographic and 
The four RAs located in the southeastern part of the state (Sâo 
José dos Campos - SC, Sâo Paulo - SP, Baixada Santista - BS 
and Registro- RE) do not cultivate sugarcane for agro-industrial 
purposes because they possess less extensive cultivated areas. 
These RAs present less favorable environmental conditions for 
the cultivation of this crop, such as high rainfall and rugged 
terrain (Alfonsi et al., 1987). Therefore, these RAs are not 
monitored by the project. 
Figure 5. Total area of expansion between the 2005/06 and 
2009/10 seasons (a); concentration of sugarcane (total cultivated 
area/RA area) for the 2009/10 season (b) in the Administrative 
Regions of Araçatuba (AR), Baixada Santista (BS), Barretos 
(BR), Bauru (BA), Campinas (CA), Central (CE), Franca (FR), 
Marilia (MA), Présidente Prudente (PP), Registro (RE), 
Ribeirâo Preto (RP), Sâo José do Rio Preto (SR), Sâo José dos 
Campos (SC), Sâo Paulo (SP) and Sorocaba (SO). 
The greatest expansions occurred in RAs located in the western 
part of the state (Figure 5a). The RA of Sâo José do Rio Preto 
(SR) showed the greatest expansion (398 thousand ha) between 
the 2005/06 and 2009/10 seasons, followed by the RAs of 
Araçatuba (AR) and Présidente Prudente (PP), which showed 
expansions of 326 thousand ha and 282 thousand ha, 
respectively. These RAs were responsible for 47.2% of the 
expansion in the state during the analyzed period. According to 
Canasat data, SR and AR have been the RAs with the largest 
areas of sugarcane cultivation in the state since the 2008/09 
season. However, the concentration of sugarcane in these RAs 
is not high, remaining between 24% and 36% (Figure 5b). Thus, 
these RAs have potential for further expansion of sugarcane 
cultivation. Furthermore, Western Sâo Paulo state has a