A
vitamin
enriched sector
Fruit farming is present in all
27 Brazilian states, but some of them,
like SãoPaulo and Bahia, standout in value and volumes
The fruit farmers in São Paulo continue
responsible for a huge portion of the Bra-
zilian fruit production volumes. The State
brought in revenue of R$ 10.295 billion from
fruit sales in 2016, out of a total of R$ 33.045
billion, according to data from the Brazilian
Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
This value corresponds to a total of 20 differ-
ent fruit species. The State of Bahia ranked
second on that score, with R$ 4.062 billion.
In the sequence,wehave theStatesofMinas
Gerais, withR$ 2.987 billion, andRioGrande
do Sul, with R$ 2.455 billion.
One of the most-produced fruit in Brazil,
the orange, was also responsible for a huge
part (59.2%) of the revenue fetched by fruit
sales in São Paulo, in 2016. It is followed by
the share of bananas (13.8%) and lemons
(8.4%). In Bahia, major contributions came
frombananas (34.8%), papayas (16.2%) and
l
PERFECT ENVIRONMENT
“TheBraziliansemiaridhasnearlyeveryconditionfortheproductionofveryhighqual-
ity fruits”, says Eduardo Brandão, advisor to the Fruit Farming National Committee of the
BrazilianConfederationof Agriculture andLivestock (CNA). Surprisingly, this regionequal-
ly produces typical temperate climate fruits, like apples and pears. Brandão explains that
irrigation is anessential component in theprocess: the fact that the regiondoes not bene-
fit fromregular rainfalls ends up as a positive factor as far as plant and fruit phytosanitary
conditionsgo,alongwiththeconcentrationofsugar,conferringthefruitsauniqueflavor.
The ever-increasingexport-oriented fruit farmingbusiness in that regionhada say in
regional development. Themunicipalities of Petrolina (PE) and Juazeiro (BA), with pro-
ductionbelts inValedoSãoFrancisco,witnessed theevolutionof theirHumanDevelop-
mentIndex(HDI)from0.471and0.396to0.697and0.677,respectively,in20years.“Fruit
productionplayeda fundamental role in this improvement “, saysBrandão.
The CNA advisor maintains that fruit farming is mostly in the hands of small-scale
or medium-scale farmers. “This characteristic confers undisputable advantages when
it comes to income generation and distribution, jobs and regional development, just
tomention a fewbenefits. However, the organization of the sector ismuchmore chal-
lenging“,hecomments.Withoutorganization,transformingthefarmersintobusiness-
men, following on the heels of what is happening in Chile and Peru, any steps forward
aremore difficult. “This responsibility is up to private initiative, and a spirit of associa-
tion plays a fundamental role in the task “, he says.
passion fruit (9.3%). The most-produced
fruits in Minas Gerais were bananas (41%),
oranges (18.8%) and pineapples (12%). Ap-
ples, grapes and oranges were responsible
for 28.8%, 26.3% and 9.3%, respectively, of
the total value in RioGrande do Sul.
The Brazilian orange crop could amount
to 18.7 million tons in 2017, up 8.2% from
the previous year, according to IBGE’s Sys-
tematic Agricultural Production Survey
(LSPA, in the Portuguese acronym). It is es-
timated that 14.3 million tons of this total
were harvested by the fruit farmers in São
Paulo, representing an increase of 11.3% in
comparison to the 2016 result. The perfor-
mance took advantage of an efficient dis-
ease control systemand favorable weather
conditions. The survey equally anticipat-
ed an increase in the production of oth-
er fruits, like pineapples (3.2%), grapes
(8.6%), Bahia coconut (1.5%) and cashew
nut (80.5%), which will certainly reflect on
the results in the producing states.
São Paulo and Bahia are alsomajor fruit
exporters. Bahia is located in the Northeast,
region responsible for a huge part of the vol-
umes shipped abroad. On the other hand,
the Southeast, including São Paulo, occu-
piesthesecondpositionintherankingofthe
Brazilian regions that lead fruit shipments
abroad. The fruit farmers in the Northeast
shipped abroad nearly 600 thousand tons
of fruits in 2017, out of a total of 878.4 thou-
sand tons, according to the Agrostat System
of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and
Food Supply (Mapa). Other shipments were
carried out by the Southeast (158.6 thou-
sand tons), South (102.8 thousand tons) and
North (14.1 thousand tons).
The states responsible for the biggest
shipmentsintheNortheastareasfollows:Rio
Grande doNorte (236. thousand tons), Bahia
(134.1 thousand tons), Pernambuco (115.4
thousand tons) and Ceará (107.9 thousand
tons). São Paulo shipped abroad 135.6 thou-
sand tons, the biggest volume in the South-
east and the second largest in the Country.
In the South, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande
do Sul exported 59.3 thousand tons and 41.2
thousand tons, respectively. The leading fruit
exporters in theNorthwereAmapá (5.2 thou-
sand tons) andPará (4.8 thousand tons).
The State of
São Paulo is
the leading
producer of
oranges, bananas
and lemons
20
