Luís Eduardo Gonzalez-Buritica1 and Edwin Erazo-Mesa2 #
1Colombian Sugarcane Research Center – Cenicaña, Km 26 vía Cali – Florida, Florida, Colombia
2Escuela EIDENAR, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad del Valle, Calle 13 # 100-00, Edificio E39, 760032, Cali, Colombia
Mechanized harvest has grown by 77% in the last 20 years in the Colombian sugarcane agroindustry. However, many of the current fields do not meet the requirements to be mechanically harvested, reducing the efficiency of agronomic tasks and the logistics of mechanized harvesting, increasing the negative impacts on the crop and environment. This study aimed to develop a step-by-step guide to design the sugarcane fields in Valle de Cauca (Colombia) for mechanized harvesting. Implicit, explicit, and new field design knowledge were considered. Implicit knowledge included the design methods used by sugar mill agronomists, with the explicit knowledge based on the research results of Cenicaña in water resource management. The new knowledge was the result of measurements and characterization of the entire fleet of harvesting and transportation equipment in the industry in 2023-2024. Our step-by-step guide to designing fields used for sugarcane production contains the most recent precision agriculture tools aimed at optimizing mechanized tasks and the logistics of mechanized harvesting and preventing machinery trampling the crop. The guide contains safety measures, the width of alleys, and ideal turning radius, for machinery used in the Colombian sugar industry. Mechanized harvesting requires a special field design that addresses complexities and optimizes movements impacting on work efficiency, reduces fuel consumption, and minimizes trampling to preserve the crop. It is necessary to harmonize agronomic concepts with the feasibility of executing mechanized tasks, especially harvesting, to obtain comprehensive field designs.