Productivity of the mechanical harvesters was 43% less when green harvesting compared to
productivity in burned cane (Table 1). No changes were made in fan speed.
The operational cost of the harvester is $44/h. In burned harvest, the productivity of 60 t/h
resulted in a harvesting cost of $0.73/t, whereas, in green-cane harvesting, the productivity of 34 t/h
results in a cost of $1.29/t.
n a field yielding 80 t/ha, this difference of $0.56/t between green and burned cane would
represent an increase of $45.10/ha in the harvesting cost of a green-cane.