Cássio Filter
Tobacco occupies only 5%
of Francisco Provensi’s holding, in Linha
SãoJosé,interiorofCaibi,smalltowninWesternSantaCatarina.However,thegreen-
ish leaves are the real engine of his 17-hectare farm. “There is nothing that brings in
similar income. Then, I use themoney derived from tobacco to structure other culti-
vations and livestock operations. I ampreparingmy future”, he explains.
At the age of 60, the farmer is preparing to quit this crop in two years’ time. To
this end, he is investing in a kind of pension system of his own with the income
stemming fromhis 18 thousand tobaccoplants he grows at every season. “My farm
has always been diversified. Now I am even investing more in this diversification,
with investments in fruit farming”, he concludes.
Walking around the family farm is like walking in a big fair. Everything there re-
flects diligence and care, the plants are where they should be. There is a great va-
riety of them. It is just amatter of walking around to come across a small vineyard,
fruit trees like guava, peach, nut; and crops like corn, watermelon, along with fish
farming ponds and sheep raising.
As good Italian descendants, everything the Provensis do is defined on the tip of
tobacco
Relying on income fromtobacco, FrancisoProvensi,
fromCaibi (SC), plans his retirementwith
investments indiversificationand fruit farming
the pencil. In his capacity as an accountant, Fran-
ciso has no difficulty dealingwith the numbers of
the farm that involve expenses, income, bills and
profitability. This characteristicmade him little by
little diminish the volume of the production, as
time went by, gradually reaching the break-even
point of the business. “It wasmy father who start-
ed with tobacco. I inherited the crop from him.
One has to be aware of what to do and how to do
it. I have always kept my farm diversified. I think
there iswhere the secret lies”, he commented.
PROFILE
• The Provensis farm
• 1 hectare tobacco
• 6 hectares of corn alternatedwith soybean
• 50 guava trees
• 250 peach trees
• 1 hectare of grapes (12 varieties)
• 1 hectare of watermelon
• 3 hectares of nut trees
• Fish farming
• Sheep farming
CAIBI
–
It is a town in Western Santa Catari-
na, with approximately 6.2 thousand people,
near Chapecó and at the borders with Argenti-
na. Theeconomyof themunicipality isbasedon
diversified agriculture.
The fruits of
Tobacco allows the
farmer to invest more
in diversification,
year after year
91
TABACO EMCAIBI
Área colhida
300 hectares
Quantidade produzida
510 toneladas
Rendimentomédio
1,7 tonelada por hectare
Valor da produção
R$ 2,96milhões
Fonte: InstitutoBrasileirodeGeografiaeEstatística(IBGE).
TOBACCO IN CAIBI
Planted area
300 hectares
Amount produced
510 tons
Average productivity
1.7 tons per hectare
Value of the crop
R$ 2.96million
Source:Brazilian InstituteofGeographyandStatistics(IBGE)
