COMPARISON OF ESTIMATED PRODUCTION AREA OF SUGAR CANE IN SAO PAULO STATE ABSTRACT : The state of São Paulo has the largest area under cultivation of sugar cane which is equivalent of 40% of the total. Given the magnitude of the numbers involved in the production of sugarcane in Brazil and especially in state of São Paulo and its relevance as food and fuel, this product has two relevant surveys production area in state São Paulo. One survey is conducted through remote sensing techniques using satellite images and the other survey uses subjective method with non-probability sampling techniques. This study aims at comparing through descriptive statistics results obtained by these two surveys among the crop years from 2003/04 to 2012/13, checking the differences and the tendency of each survey, as well as their strengths and limitations. The research is conducted in the 645 municipalities of the state of São Paulo. This survey is conducted periodically in five periods of the crop year. The overarching goal of it is to monitor the development of culture since planting until the harvest. After testing the consistency of the information, correct any errors and analyze the data, the IEA (Institute of Agricultural Economics) generates the estimates of agricultural areas in the state of São Paulo in regards of its production. Information from public sector. Subjective method Remote Sensing method Multi-temporal Landsat images from the sensor (TM) on board of the Landsat-5 satellite or similar of São Paulo State. The estimates is obtained by an automatic image classification, with a subsequent editing to correct omission and commission errors and using visual/manual interpretation techniques of digital images. Was created a thematic map to evaluate accuracy of survey for two-classes, i.e., sugarcane and no sugarcane. Information from partners public and private CONCLUSIONS: According to the results, only the crop year 2007/08 the estimated area by remote sensing was higher compared to estimated area by non-probability sampling. On the evolution of the area estimated by two surveys, it appears that from the crop year 2010/11 survey conducted by the remote sensing area indicates reduction in production, but the opposite is observed in the survey conducted by non-probability sampling techniques. Although the surveys have different methodologies, the results of the estimates are similar, but in the last two crop years the estimates are different in each of them, possibly the difference is the focus of each survey. Both surveys are supported by the pillars for a good statistical information, however the subjective survey is broader because it is not intended to restrict the sugarcane industry. Regarding to the estimates generated by each survey, we can conclude that the methodology for remote sensing is broader, because it considers as sampling unit each mapped area with sugar cane and has a system accuracy evaluation. Authors: Vagner Azarias Martins; Carlos Roberto Ferreira Bueno; Denise Viani Caser (Institute of Agricultural Economics); Ericson Hideki Hayakawa (State University of West Paraná) Points visited in the field. Source: IEA/CATI & CANASAT