In the last years, Brazil has experienced a significant increase in consumption of ethanol fuel, combined with an increase of sugarcane price in the international market. During the period 2000-2010 the area occupied by sugarcane increased 97.59% (equivalent to 4,526,475 hectares). These facts have contributed for changings in the agriculture dynamic in the Cerrado biome (savanna), accentuating the substitution of less investment-demanding crops by sugarcane. In this study we have evaluated the expansion of sugarcane crops in the central and western part of Minas Gerais State, specifically in areas of Cerrado, as well as their socioeconomic and environmental impacts in the municipalities of the study area, during the 1995-2010 period. The main results, obtained with the support of remote sensing and GIS techniques, show an expansion of 130% in the areas planted with sugarcane, followed by 87% and 31% of reforestation and other crops, respectively. It was also detected a reduction of 19.6% in the native vegetation cover, while pasturelands faced a reduction of 8.5%.
Land use and land cover changes; Sugarcane; Cerrado; Remote Sensing
