A summary of the evaluated variables under manual and
mechanical harvest is presented in Table 10. Costs of crop
management increased for green-cane harvest systems by
$26.53/ha compared with burned-cane harvest systems (Table
11). The reduced cost of chemical fertiliser due to nutrient
recycling in green-cane harvest was not quantified due to
uncertainties of the dynamics of the decomposition of the
residues and therefore the liberation of its nutrients. At current
fertiliser cost, the difference in nutrient content amounts to
$135/ha in favour of the green-cane system.