Production in
SantaCatarina
In the 2015/16 growing season, ac-
cording to numbers from the Tobac-
co Growers’ Association of Brazil (Afu-
bra), there were 42,530 tobacco growing
families in Santa Catarina, with a total of
45,150 curing barns. The area devoted to
tobacco reached 84,710 hectares, result-
ing into a crop of 168,161 tons, with av-
erage productivity of 1,985 kilograms per
hectare. In the 2016/17 growing season,
the projection is for the crop to expand
even further, starting with the number of
families devoted to the activity, projected
toreach45,150.Theproductionareaises-
timatedat92,830hectares,withaproduc-
tion of 208,268 tons and average of 2,244
kilogramsper hectare.
According to Afubra technical man-
ager Paulo Vicente Ogliari, in the Coast-
al Area of Santa Catarina the production
modules are bigger, exceeding 100 thou-
sand tobacco plants per farmer, while in
the other regions across Santa Catarina
and in the other states in the South the
farmers cultivate an average of 30 thou-
sandplants.“Theareaavailablefortobac-
co is bigger in the Coastal region and the
land is normally flat and appropriate for
mechanization, thus reducing the need
for labor, now very scarce in the interior”,
he explains. Furthermore, he mentions
the favorable weather conditions, with
very few frost incidences, allowing for the
cultivationof twocrops ayear.
some 25 workers are needed. “We provide lodging, meals and uniforms for the work. At
weekends theyall gohomeandstaywith their families”, heexplains. Other impressive in-
dicators on the holding include the infrastructure: There are 16 seedbeds for the produc-
tionof seedlings and16 curingbarns, with280 clamps each. Leaf curing consumes about
1,200 squaremeters of wood a year.
With an average production of 2,200 kilograms of tobacco per hectare, the farm-
er regrets the crop failure in 2016, caused by a sequence of bad weather conditions:
first, there was an untimely frost, in mid-June, followed by a 40-day drought from
September to October. “In the total of the two crops, losses are likely to amount to 10
tons in 2016”, he says. The crop failure does not affect the grower’s enthusiasm, who
is betting on technology with the aim to expand his fields.
Now, the farm, located only some meters away from the beach, is already taking
advantage of mechanization in different stages of the process. The flat land makes
it viable to use tractors and implements, like pesticide sprayers for large commer-
cial applications. Furthermore, the farmer has adhered to direct planting and uses
harvesting machines developed by his uncle. These machines are coupled to a
tractor and make management easier – the workers sit in the shade on the harvest-
er. “Labor is scarce and expensive. This is why my dream is to mechanize my har-
vesting operations completely. Technology for this already exists, but it has not yet
arrived in Brazil”, he comments.
n
With two crops per year, production
exceeds 150 tons of tobacco
Inor Ag. Assmann
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