It could
be bigger
Brazilian sweet potato crop of 525.8 thousand tons is low
compared to the potential of the plant as food and raw material
In Brazil, the potential of sweet potatoes
as food and raw material for the production
of food items, is not being explored. The
crop reached 525.8 thousand tons in 2014,
20.5 thousand tons more than the previ-
ous year, according to a survey conducted
by the department of Municipal Agricultur-
al Production (MAP), a division of the Bra-
zilian Institute of Geography and Statistics
(IBGE). The cultivated area rose from 39.3
thousand hectares in 2013 to 39.7 thousand
hectares the following year. Average produc-
tivity, which had reached 13 thousand tons,
evolved to 13.2 thousand tons in 2014.
“Considering the potential of the new cul-
tivars, the present sweet potato crop in Bra-
zil is still low”, says agronomic engineer Luis
Antonio Suita de Castro, researcher at Embra-
pa Temperate Climate, in Pelotas (RS). In his
opinion, there is need to improve the produc-
tion system, the agricultural practices need to
beperfected, like appropriate soil preparation,
fertilization, the use of healthy seedlings, reg-
istered cultivars, field mechanization, process-
ing and proper post-harvest storing.
AccordingtoCastro,thecreditofthesoaring
productivity rates goes, in part, to the new cul-
tivars developed by Embrapa over the past five
years. Furthermore, Incentive was given to the
use of healthy seedlings produced and trad-
ed by nursery owners registered in the Minis-
try of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply
(Mapa). In 2015, two credentialed nurseries,
under the supervision of Embrapa, provid-
ed the farmers with some 130 thousand ma-
trix plants, which can be multiplied, with a ca-
pacity toproduce up to900 seedlings per unit.
The consumption of the roots by the peo-
ple is themainuse of the sweet potatoes. Rare-
ly, other options are explored, like the use of
the vines as food, chips, bio-fortified flour or
granules. Sweet potatoes could be used to ex-
pand the ethanol market, the production of
fine pharmaceutical alcohol and for making
animal feed. “For all these segments, there is
technology and rawmaterial available. It is just
a matter of convincing the different segments
to start their production lines”, says Castro. In
Countries like China, up to 30% of the flour
for making bread comes from sweet potatoes.
In Castro’s view, the present scenario is
supposed to improve due to the structuring
process nowundergone by the crop. He cites,
for example, the new cultivars of the vegeta-
ble now being developed for the different re-
gions across Brazil. The implementation of
standards for the production of seedlings with
high technical patterns and the selection of
technologically equippedmatrix seed produc-
ers, credentialed by the Mapa, are just some
of the measures. The expectation is for the
crop to continue making strides, seeing that
its plants can be used in their entirety, and are
very resistant, do not need pesticide applica-
tions; in short, it is a value-added crop, and its
establishment requires less inputs or labor.
Inor Ag. Assmann
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