Aguilar-Rivera, N. et al. Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., Vol.

28, 2013
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SUGARCANE MAPPING AND AGRO-ECOLOGICAL SUITABILITY IN VERACRUZ

MEXICO: A REMOTE SENSING AND GIS ANALYSIS

By

N. AGUILAR-RIVERA1, L.A. OLVERA-VARGAS2, J.A. ALEJANDRE-ROSAS1,

D.A. RODRIGUEZ L.1 and A. CASTILLO M.1

1
Universidad Veracruzana, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias,
Córdoba Veracruz México
2
Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí. México

naguilar@uv.mx
KEYWORDS: Sugarcane Crop Fields,
Precision Agriculture Constraints.

Abstract
MEXICO’S SUGAR INDUSTRY has low productivity. Geomatic tools to assess sugarcane
fields and constraints using biophysical parameters such as climate and soil have not
been used. This study was carried out in the 22 sugarcane supply zones for Veracruz
sugar mills to determine the potential agro-ecological suitability for the sugarcane crop.
Remote Sensing software (ILWIS 3.3) and a Geographical Information System (ESRI
ArcMap 10.1) were used to establish a base map based on the spectral signature of
sugarcane. Vector and raster datasets of climate, rainfall, soil data (physical and
chemical properties), elevation, slope and their combinations were overlaid and used to
develop maps of the agro-ecological potential (High, Medium, Low and Very Low) for
each 22 sugarcane supply zones. Of the 281 643 ha of sugarcane in Veracruz state,
4.19% of the total planted area in Veracruz is classified as high potential, 57.11% as
medium potential, and 38.68% is low or very low potential. These differences are
apparently because of strong spatial-temporal rainfall variability. As a result, sugarcane
production in different regions of Veracruz needs different use of new crop varieties and
environmental management techniques to increase productivity.
Introduction
Sugarcane is one of the most widely grown field crops in Mexico. It is cultivated in 15 states
in lowlands on both the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coasts and in high mountain river valleys in
central Mexico. The main producing state is in the east in Veracruz with cane production of 16 Mt
and 22 sugar mills. However, productivity in Veracruz is relatively low compared to that in other
Mexican regions and in other countries. In addition, the integration of sugar and ethanol production,
recycling of by-products and sustainability are low.
The crop also experiences various types of biotic and abiotic stress (drought conditions),
spatial variability and it is highly vulnerable to diseases, pests, weeds, water loss, storms and other
unpredictable natural events such as El Niño-La Niña. All of these affect the profitability and
determine the impact of cane-growing practices on the environment.
Hence, sugarcane production in Veracruz is linked to factors such as climatic and soil
constraints, water resources, human factors, and economic conditions, all of which impact on
farming practices. These constraints, together with the need to maintain or improve profitability,
require that the industry constantly improves sugarcane production efficiencies. One way of doing
this is through better access to information used for decision-making.
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Aguilar-Rivera, N. et al. Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., Vol. 28, 2013
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Models for Agro-Ecological Zoning (AEZ), Site Specific Management, Land Suitability
Assessment, and Regionalisation and Clustering of sugarcane systems and tools such as Geographic
Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Remote Sensing (RS) have
increased the productivity, quality and efficiency in other sugarcane cropping regions.
The objective of our study was to determine the potential agro-ecological suitability for
sugarcane in Veracruz state using a Geographical Information System (GIS) and data obtained from
Remote Sensing (RS), together with climate and soil factors.
Materials and methods
We used ILWIS 3.3 Software to select pixels (crop digital identification) with 9 multi-
spectral Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite imageries (2545, 2546, 2446, 2447, 2347, 2448, 2348, 2247 and
2248), based on the spectral signature of sugarcane. This established a base map of the spatial
distribution of sugarcane in the supply areas of 22 sugar mills in Veracruz state. The vector and
raster datasets of climate, weather, rainfall, soil data (physical and chemical properties), elevation
and slope (percentage) were overlaid with ESRI ArcGis 9.2.
Data were obtained from official institutions of the Mexican Government responsible for
agricultural statistics and were based on conventional methods to the scale of 1:50,000 (SIAP,
2010). We then matched thematic maps of crop demands according to an agro-ecological zoning
(AEZ) model (Sanchez et al., 2002; Brunini et al., 2010; Milanes et al., 2010; Rudorff et al., 2010)
with the sugarcane base map to establish four categories of land potential for sugarcane. We
produced these as thematic maps of potential (High, Medium, Low and Very Low) for each supply
zone.
Results and discussion
Our results (Table 1, Figure 1) show that a remote sensing and GIS approach allows a useful
preliminary evaluation of the potential for sugarcane agriculture. It can serve as an effective and
low-cost tool to evaluate the sugarcane spatial variability for future regional sustainable
development planning in sugar mills in Veracruz state.
Table 1—Agro-ecological suitability in sugar mills, Veracruz Mexico.
Area Potential for growing sugarcane (ha)
Hydrological Sugarcane
Sugar mill harvested
regime yield (t/ha) High Medium Low Very low
(ha)
El Higo 16,447 Irrigation 80.1 9906.0 6284.4 256.6 0.0
San Francisco 8,672 Rainfed 39.3 626.1 6864.8 1181.1 0.0
El Modelo 9,356 Irrigation 75.2 478.1 8873.2 4.7 0.0
San Pedro 11,844 Rainfed 52.6 469.0 9202.8 2172.2 0.0
Independencia 1,365 Rainfed 43.5 48.2 920.4 396.5 0.0
Tres Valles 34,807 Rainfed 52.8 866.7 10334.2 23606.1 0.0
Central Motzorongo 17,279 Rainfed 63.3 369.8 9569.1 7341.9 0.0
Zapoapita 15,264 Irrigation 80.5 308.3 11635.8 3318.4 0.0
San Nicolás 11,147 Rainfed 56.8 208.5 6295.8 4642.7 0.0
El Potrero 21,201 Rainfed 61.7 345.6 18654.8 2200.7 0.0
La Gloria 15,908 Irrigation 76.0 187.7 15058.5 622.0 41.4
San Gabriel 7,998 Rainfed 47.8 34.4 2222.6 5740.2 0.0
San Miguelito 5,279 Rainfed 65.9 6.9 4588.0 684.2 0.0
La Constancia 15,090 Rainfed 52.9 12.1 10051.5 5026.5 0.0
Central Progreso 11,127 Rainfed 56.3 4.5 7667.6 3454.9 0.0
El Carmen 8,165 Rainfed 52.6 2.5 4127.4 4035.1 0.0
San Cristobal 35,865 Rainfed 47.2 0.0 7155.1 28709.9 0.0
Cuatotolapan 9,097 Rainfed 48.2 0.0 214.7 8880.5 2.7
El Refugio 6,996 Rainfed 49.7 0.0 4308.8 2687.2 0.0
La Concepción 1,378 Rainfed 64.1 0.0 434.5 943.5 0.0
La Providencia 10,578 Rainfed 61.8 0.0 5827.4 4750.6 0.0
San José de Abajo 8,081 Rainfed 57.5 0.0 7104.0 977.0 0.0
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Aguilar-Rivera, N. et al. Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., Vol. 28, 2013
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Fig. 1—Spatial variability of agro-ecological suitability in sugar mills of Veracruz state.

Of the total sugarcane supply area (281 643 ha), we classified 4.19% as high potential,
57.11% as medium potential, and 38.68% as low or very low potential. Areas of high potential for
sugarcane production are concentrated in the Higo Sugar Mill area (Figure 2) that currently has the
highest yield (80 t/ha).
Medium potential areas are grouped around the sugar mills of El Modelo, La Gloria, El
Potrero, San José de Abajo, San Miguelito, Nuevo San Francisco, San Pedro, Zapoapita, Central
Progreso, Independencia, La Constancia, San Nicolás, Central Motzorongo, La Providencia and El
Carmen areas (≥ 60 t/ha). Most of the area with low potential is in the Mahuixtlan, Cuatotolapan,
San Cristobal, San Gabriel, La Concepción and Tres Valles areas (≥ 45 t/ha). These are not irrigated
and are characterised by high climate variability.
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Aguilar-Rivera, N. et al. Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., Vol. 28, 2013
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Fig. 2—Sugarcane land suitability (%) in sugar mills Veracruz Mexico.

Conclusions
Strategies such as the use of new crop varieties and environmental management can drive
increases in productivity. However, these resources need to be optimised, returns maximised and
costs of production minimised for specific physical, environmental and socio-economic conditions
and constraints that are present at regional levels.
Efforts to raise cane productivity in Veracruz fields should place emphasis on the most
appropriate methods for sustainable production systems to meet the food (sugar) and fuel (ethanol)
needs for the future, but, as our work shows, these depend on the potential for land use that vary
from region to region. Decision support tools, including GIS, RS and GPS, can provide useful
estimates of the agro-ecological suitability for each area and allow selection of the most appropriate
technologies.
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