In
bunches
Bananas distinguish
Bahia in the national fruit
scenario, and theWestern
Region of the State is
home to the biggest area
devoted to the fruit and
the biggest production in
the Country
On the frontline of banana plantations in the Country,
Western Bahia is home to the municipality wit the biggest
area devoted to the fruit and the biggest production. The
crop stands out in Bom Jesus da Lapa, third most popu-
lated municipality in the region, within the plan known as
Formoso Irrigation Project, which is administrated by the
São Francisco and Parnaíba Valley Development Company
(Codevasf), since the final days of the past century, and its
water comes from the Corrente River, a tributary of the São
Francisco River, and has been expanding its cultivations
over the past years.
The State has been alternating the first position in the
production of bananas in Brazil with São Paulo: it was first
in 2015 and second in 2016. With big producing areas in the
South and Center-South, bananas are
equally cultivated in the Western por-
tion of the State, particularly in Vale do
São Francisco, along with Bom Jesus
da Lapa, besides being cultivated in the
Far-West, which is the case of Barreiras.
In the two years, the Brazilian Institute
of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) po-
sitioned the municipality that sits along
the margins of the “Old Chico” (the popular name of the
São Francisco River) as the leading national producer, with
respective volumes of 171 thousand and 160 thousand
tons, while the region of Barreiras increased its production
volume by 10%. But the Formoso Project itself indicates a
bigger production, upwards of 180 thousand tons.
According to data from the project, 182.7 thousand tons
of bananas were produced in 2016, particularly of the Pra-
ta and Nanica varieties, corresponding to 96.7% of the to-
tal bananas harvested in its lots. In comparison to the num-
ber published in 2015, there has been a slight reduction,
because of adverse weather conditions. As to the area de-
voted to the crop, which represents 91% of the total proj-
ect, it started growing again, reaching 7.9 thousand hect-
ares. Numbers since 2013 show annual growth, reaching
5% in 2016. The same holds true for the value of the pro-
duction, which specifically in the past year, with a decrease
in the availability of the product, was up 63% from the pre-
vious year, amounting to R$ 282 million, 99% of the total.
The Formoso Project, according to statistical figures re-
leased in November 2017 by Ubirajara Bessa Filho, executive
director of the Codevasf Production Support Unit, produced
The fruit is the
highlightof an
irrigationproject
inBomJesusda Lapa
189 thousand tons of food in 2016, predom-
inantly bananas, at a gross value of R$ 285
million, of which, R$ 138.5 million coming
from family farms and R$ 146.5 from com-
mercial farms. Over the year, the perimeter
comprised 1,146 lots (962 small-scale farms
and 184 commercial farms) with a planted
area of 8.7 thousand hectares. The irrigated
perimeter represented 72%of the total avail-
able. The report of this public irrigation proj-
ect also refers to the creation of 8,678 direct
jobs and 13,070 indirect ones.
Divulgação/Codevasf
41
Fonte:
Codevasf
banana do oeste
western bananas
Dados da cultura no Projeto de Irrigação Formoso em 2016
Área cultivada (ha)
Produção (t)
Valor da produção (R$ mil)
7.903,90
182.666
282.163
