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Goiás is the
leading producer
LargesttomatoproducerintheCountry,Goiásdevotesalmost10thousandhectares
totomatoesandharvests880thousandtonsofstakedandindustrialfruits,ayear
The agricultural area in Goiás compris-
es about 2.4 million hectares. Of this ter-
ritory, some 10.5 thousand hectares are
destined for the establishment of tomato
crops, both table and industrial tomatoes.
The State began to assume its leading po-
sition in Brazil back in 1986, when the pro-
duction of tomatoes for processing start-
ed. The aim was to meet the needs of the
industries of tomato-based foods, soups
and sauces based in Goiás. Back then, av-
erage yields per hectare did not even reach
45 tons. Now, the result has almost dou-
bled, and amounts to 89 tons. There are
farmers reaching productivity rates of up-
wards of 120 tons per hectare.
At present, Goiás is the national lead-
er in the production of industrial toma-
toes, followed by São Paulo. Agronom-
ic engineer Alípio Magalhães de Oliveira,
from Emater-GO, maintains that the cred-
it for the productive success goes to the
use of technology, like hybrid seed, irri-
gation, seedling production and mecha-
nized harvest, developed jointly by pub-
lic and private research works. “If there
was no industrial park for tomato-based
products in Goiás, certainly there would
be no commercial tomato crops in the
State, but only staked or table tomato cul-
tivations, which are not very expressive”,
he explains.
The extension worker has it that other
productive differentials across the State in-
clude favorable climate, appropriate soils,
availability of water resources for irriga-
tion, and professionally skilled farmers.
In 2015, the area devoted to industrial to-
matoes amounted to 9,185 hectares, with
yields of 89,004 kilograms per hectare and
production of 817,500 tons. The area de-
voted to staked tomatoes reached 809
hectares, with productivity rates of 76,748
kilograms per hectare and a crop size of 62
thousand tons. For 2016, the perspective
of the supply chain is for no changes in the
planted area and crop size.
According to Oliveira, IBGE officials
indicate that industrial tomatoes were
produced in 221 municipalities, in 2015.
They are located close to industries that
make tomato-based foods. It is estimat-
ed that 66% of the planted area is locat-
ed in the municipalities of Cristalina (3.5
thousand hectares), Morrinhos (1.3 thou-
sand hectares) and Itaberaí (1.2 thousand
hectares). On the other hand, table toma-
toes were present in 27 municipalities in
2015, where the highlights are Santa Rosa
do Goiás and Corumbá de Goiás, with
100 hectares each, followed by Goianá-
polis and Catalão, with 90 and 80 hect-
ares, respectively.
“The supply chain of staked tomatoes,
also known as table tomatoes, is a rele-
vant source of income and jobs in Goiás”,
Oliveira notes. “The activity generates 5
to 6 direct jobs per hectare a year. The
same average holds true for the gener-
ation of indirect jobs. Considering the
planted area, the amount of jobs reach-
es upwards of six thousand”. The agron-
omist notes that, taking into consider-
ation the high production cost of this
PIONEERINGSPIRIT
The State of Goiás is the first in Brazil
torelyonanAgriculturalSurveillancePro-
gram, which suggests the introduction of
a calendar for planting tomatoes, select-
ing the region and time to establish the
crop, in compliance with Normative Rul-
ing nº 06/2011, of the Ministry of Agricul-
ture, Livestock and Food Supply (Mapa).
The bid suggests the absence of tomato
plants during the months of November
through January, a period when there
arewhiteflyoutbreaksinallmajortomato
growing areas in the State. The idea is to
reduce the population of these insects,
as they have a great capacity to transmit
geminivirus diseases, and diminish the
sources of inoculum for tomato virus dis-
eases insubsequentplantings.
Benefits stemming from the adop-
tion of the planting calendar include
lower production costs, reduced expo-
sure time of rural producers to harmful
chemical agents and smaller amounts
of pesticides in the environment. “With
the absence of geminivirus diseases, the
fruits will develop normally, avoiding
quality and weight losses and, conse-
quently, higher productivity levels”, says
Alípio Magalhães de Oliveira, agronomic
engineer at Emater, inGoiás.
crop, close to R$ 65 thousand per hect-
are, and equally observing the area devot-
ed to tomatoes, it is possible to have a
grasp of the amount of money that circu-
lates thanks to the tomato crops.
