The sugarcane agro-industry is located in the geographic valley of the Cauca River and has over 100 years of history.
According to Cenicaña, in 2023, the area designated for sugarcane cultivation in the geographic valley of the Cauca River was 237,169 hectares, of which 10,266 hectares were in the process of renewal.
Sugarcane cultivation represents a significant chapter in the economy of several departments located in the geographic valley of the Cauca River and at the national level.
Calpine Colombia SAS, aware of the sustainability situation in the sugarcane agro-industrial sector, has been promoting the use of 100% assimilable sources with higher nutritional efficiency:
- Nitrogen as ammonium nitrate (40% NO₃⁻ and 60% NH₄⁺), with zero carbon footprint in its composition.
- Phosphorus as polyphosphates. Polyphosphates are formed when ammonia is added to phosphoric acid during the production process. They are long chains of orthophosphates with an acidic reaction in the soil, preventing fixation by cations like calcium, magnesium, aluminum, and iron. They also act as slow-release sources.
- Potassium balanced between 60% potassium nitrate and 40% potassium chloride, which favors the balance of charges (cations/anions) in the soil solution, increasing the efficiency of potassium absorption.
Currently, Calpine Colombia SAS offers sugarcane growers two NPK formulas (100% water-soluble chemical complexes, physically blended with KCl) developed for sugarcane cultivation.
These formulas are 27-3-11 and 27-6-6, highly efficient alternatives for sugarcane crop nutrition.
The nutritional benefits in sugarcane cultivation from using high-efficiency sources like the NPKs distributed by Calpine Colombia SAS enhance the absorption of the various nutrients required by the crop.
The formulas that Calpine offers to sugarcane growers—27-3-11 and 27-6-6—also include the chemical NPK complexes 16-16-16, 19-9-19, 18-6-18, and 31-3-3, which share the same characteristics as the previously mentioned sources.
