The purpose of the following article of reflection is to present some guidelines as to the idea called the environmental implications of monocultures in Colombia, having as main shaft one of the main sources of the economy the Cauca valley: the agro-industrial model of the sugar, which generates environmental implications in its area of influence. The article contains multiple sessions. The methodology used environmental State/Pressure/Response, which is based on the research and in which it develops different qualitative and quantitative indicators to get a holistic view. At the same time are the notions of development and environment, in accordance with the contributions of the intellectual output of the ECLAC, Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens. The center section of the article contains a description of the environmental impacts related to agro-industrial development of the sugar geographic valley of the Cauca River, which can elucidate the pressures that this model has been exercised in the natural resources, which allows you to indicate which impacts on the water, soil, air, have impacted and continue to do so in the living conditions of rural settlers of the area of influence of the sugar mills. Finally, it will be seen as it is possible to achieve some alternatives to the model are presented as a conception of development that should be analyzed, from social components, natural, economic and political, resulting in the construction of an environmental culture to the region.