The Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) was created in the 1940s when half of the 1.6 million ha Everglades ecoregion was drained for agricultural and urban development. Of the EAA's resulting 700,000 ha, 500,000 ha is planted to sugarcane. Soil subsidence caused by oxidization of soil organic matter directly threatens the sustainability of sugarcane production. For 5000 years, a steady flow of water deposited 8.4 cm of organic matter per century on Everglades soils. Since drainage, EAA soils have diminished by 2.5 cm per year, certainly inhibiting agricultural production over the long-term. The sugarcane industry also negatively impacts the neighboring Everglades ecoregion. Positioned directly south of Lake Okeechobee, they block the natural north-south flow of water through the wetlands; water is instead diverted through canals to the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. In addition, phosphorus runoff from the farms into ground and surface water has polluted the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee, causing algae blooms and biodiversity loss. Unsustainable ecological practices that threaten the future of sugarcane production in the EAA are beginning to be mitigated, but the future of sugarcane in the region remains uncertain.  

The sugarcane industry has begun to take steps towards ecological sustainability in the Everglades ecoregion. The incorporation of rice as a cover crop is one such positive practice. Rice is planted on sugarcane fields every 4 to 5 years and is grown under flooded conditions. The rice crop absorbs excess phosphorus, and flooding the fields halts subsidence, controls pests, and provides a wetland habitat for native animal species. The industry has also decreased its release of phosphorus into surrounding ecosystems though decreased fertilizer use, chemical treatment of outflow, and the creation of 16,000 ha of filtering marshes to act as a wetland treatment and buffer zone. Ecological sustainability can be increased by these beneficial practices and by modeling farms more closely on the natural ecosystem. Development of water-tolerant sugarcane varieties in particular would allow annual flooding, further mitigating the problem of subsidence. Variety development is not a simple process or a cure-all, however. Significant changes in EAA sugarcane agroecosystems are required to ensure their future viability and the health of neighboring ecosystems. 

Conserve Resources

Cultivating flooded rice on drained marsh land can help conserve soil that is being lost by subsidence.

Adjust to Local Environments

Sugarcane cropping systems do not conform to the natural wetland ecosystem, relying on artificial drainage. Flooded rice grown in regular rotation is well adapted to the local marsh conditions.

Diversify

Using filtering marshes to treat phosphorus runoff creates a buffer zone between neighboring ecosystems and diversifies the landscape. Crop rotation with rice increases biodiversity in the agroecosystem and provides a wetland habitat for native animal species.

Value Health

Rotating sugarcane with rice and using filtering marshes can reduce environmental pollution by surplus nutrients in neighboring ecosystems, improving ecosystem health. 

Publications and websites on the Everglades sugarcane situation:

Bottcher, A.B. and F.T. Izuno. 1994. Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA): Water, Soil, Crops, and Environmental Management. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, Florida.

Coalition for Sugar Reform. consulted Aug. 1999.

Florida Crystals. consulted Aug. 1999. www.floridacrystals.com

Glick, Daniel. May 2, 1996. Big Sugar vs. the Everglades. Rolling Stone: 44-49, 64,66.

Lodge, Thomas. 1994. The Everglades Handbook. St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, Florida.

USDA. consulted Aug. 1999. Changing Sugarcane to Aid the Everglades. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3741/is_n12_v45/ai_20178529

USDA. consulted Aug. 1999. Conserving Organic Soils in the Everglades Agricultural Area. http://www.canalpoint.sugarcane.usda.gov/main/main.htm

USDA. consulted Aug. 1999. Reducing Phosphorus Content of Drainage Water from the Everglades Agricultural Area. http://www.canalpoint.sugarcane.usda.gov/main/main.htm

US Sugar Corporation. consulted Aug. 1999. www.ussugar.com