l
ESPAÇO PARA CRESCER
Opesquisador DirceuMattos Júnior, do Instituto Agronômi-
co de Campinas (IAC), entende ser dificil comparar tecnologias,
pelas características peculiares do Brasil. “Temos um nível tec-
nológico bastante elevado quando se considera o conjunto de
práticas levadasaocitricultor, aprodutividadeelevadaeasigni-
ficativaáreadeprodução,oramuitofocadaemcustos”,destaca.
“Na área de fruta de mesa, para consumo interno, temos
grande espaçopara crescer. Não apenas emprodução,mas em
desenvolvimento tecnológico”. E o País tem ótimo padrão de
qualidade e de produtividade em laranja de mesa, tangerinas,
limõeselimasácidas.“Emboranãotenhamostantasnovidades
emmaterial genético nas últimas temporadas, evoluímos mui-
toemmanejodaculturaenosporta-enxertos, quegeramdiver-
sidadedeopções importanteeampliamo rendimentopor área
eaqualidadedos frutos”, explica. “A inovaçãoéumanecessida-
deda citricultura, eestamos trabalhandoparaatender eanteci-
par asdemandasdospomares”, frisa.
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ROOM FOR GROWTH
Researcher DirceuMattos Júnior, from IAC, maintains that it
is no easy task to compare technologies, because of Brazil’s pe-
culiar characteristics. “Wehavea rather high technological level
when the set of practices taken to the farmers is taken into con-
sideration,highproductivityandsignificantproductionarea,for
themoment highly focusedoncosts”, he says.
“In the table fruit area, for domestic consumption, there is
still much room for growth. Not only in production, but in tech-
nological development”. The Country boasts an excellent quali-
ty andproductivity pattern in tableoranges, tangerines, lemons
andacid limes. “Althoughwedidnot havemanynovelties inge-
netic materials over the past seasons, we have evolved a lot in
cropmanagement and scions and rootstocks, whichgenerate a
diversity of important options andexpand theperformanceper
areaandfruitquality”,heexplains.“Innovationisaneedforcitri-
culture,andweareengagedinmeetingandanticipatingthede-
mandsof theorchards”, he summarizes.
Brazil’s leadership in production and ex-
ports of orange juice does not happen by
chance. It is the result of hefty investments, of
sectoral scope of interest and, equally, of the
levelofresearchconductedintheCountry, fo-
cused on this crop. The Country is one of the
three main scientific orange juice production
hubs, alongwith theUnited States and Spain.
“In publications we rank second, coming only
aftertheUnitedStates,wheretheStateofFlor-
ida is our big competitor in the production of
juices”, says researcher Marcos AntonioMach-
ado, from the Agronomic Institute of Campi-
nas(IAC),adivisionoftheSãoPauloStateSec-
retariat of Agriculture and Supply, which runs
theSylvioMoreiraCitricultureCenter.
As far as table citriculture goes, Brazil does
nothavethesametradition,andthetargetisto
recover lost ground and time. Expansion is re-
markable, but it is still anarea that gets littleat-
tention fromresearchworks, in light of itsgiant
demand. “In this area, California, in the United
States,andSpainrankfirst”,hecomments.
According to Machado, citriculture has
complex questions that need to be solved.
Citrus is a perennial tree, has long lifecycle,
is very exposed to pests and diseases, but
was developed strictly in line with a genetic
basis. In case a problem surfaces, it spreads
very fast. Focused on cost reduction, high-
er productivity, better quality and commer-
cial competitiveness, and in minimizing or
solving phytosanitary questions, national re-
search teams face bottlenecks. They include
the reduced number of researchers focused
on the crop and the need to fight for resourc-
es for theprojectsof other areas.
“Although dynamic, creative and capable
of fully meeting all sectoral demands, for its
restrict dimension, citrus research sometimes
is not able to provide for timely responses de-
sired by the farmers, or responses in accor-
dance with the multiple needs of the sector”,
Machadoadmits. In spite of this, Brazil is inan
enviablepositionevenincomparisonwiththe
United States, where there are bigger teams
and more resources. “Despite the phytosani-
tary problems, we use methods that guaran-
National
challenge
consists in equally
evolving in
technology for
table fruits
tee the survival of our citrus business, making
strides and continuing competitive, while in
theUnitedStatesthecrophasbeengreatlyre-
ducedduetodiseases”,heexplains.
One of the big challenges, besides reduc-
ing the timeframe from the beginning of one
work and the moment its result achieves
commercial production, is technology trans-
ference. “We have a well-established tech-
nological package for the control of pests,
irrigation, nutrition, seedling production in
protectedenvironmentanddiseasemanage-
ment”, he summarizes.
Onall
fronts
Global leader in the production and exports
of orange juice, Brazil alsooccupies the top position
inresearch andmanagement techniques
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