66
Inor Ag. Assmann
Market
shares
Withaproductioninexcessof2.1milliontons,
thewatermelonisoneofthemostexported
fruitbyBrazil, involvingbillionseveryyear
F
igures released by the Brazilian
Institute of Geography and Sta-
tistics (IBGE) point to a stable
watermelon crop in Brazil. From
2014 to 2015, the planted area
soared upwards of 1.5 thousand hectares
in the Country, jumping from 94,375 hect-
ares to 95,965 hectares. Production in the
fields dropped from2,171,448 tons in 2014
to 2,119,559 tons the following year.
The same trend was detected in pro-
ductivity, which fell from 23 kilograms
per hectare to about 22 kilograms, in
2015, year in which the value of the crop
reached R$ 1.2 billion in Brazil. Among
the biggest producers, the State of Rio
Grande do Sul continued on the top in
harvested area, with 17,701 hectares in
2015, according to the balance of the
Municipal Agricultural Production (PAN/
IBGE) department.
The following states come in the se-
quence: Bahia, with 12,561 hectares, and
Tocantins, with 9,395 hectares. Although
Goiás ranks fifth, with 6,757 hectares de-
voted to the fruit (after São Paulo, with
8,909 hectares), in 2015 the State ranked as
second biggest producer and leader in pro-
ductivity. Back then, the State harvested
