Annona Species Monograph.pdf - Crops for the Future

Chapter 12. Economic Information
among the many fruit pulps sold in important Brazilian markets, such as São
Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro.
Sugar apple is the most important annona fruit in Alagoas State, northeastern
Brazil, with production of 7,720 t, which makes Alagoas the most
important producer in Brazil (Albuquerque, 1997). This production comes
mainly from the Regional Cooperative of Palmeira dos Indios (CARPIL), in
Palmeiras dos Indios County, where growers have an average of 1.17 ha of
sugar apple each. Large sugar apple fresh fruits, produced in north-eastern
and south-eastern Brazil were sold in May 2001, in Brasilia for US$ 0.56/ kg
of fruit. In Petrolina, Pernambuco, Brazil, some growers obtained a better
prices in the supermarket for purple sugar apple fruits (Plate 1) by selling
them as exotic fruits only, since its fruit colour, which somewhat looks like a
rotten fruit, is an impediment for better acceptance in the consumer market.
The price of all annona fruits in the national and international markets
depends upon the seasonality of production, which interferes in the
production value at that moment. Therefore, development of more
technically oriented production systems in both the southern and northern
hemispheres could expand the availability of fruit and reduce price
fluctuations.
12.1.3 Social improvement
The production, processing, sale and use of annona products can improve
social conditions in many areas where annonas are grown and processed,
through the creation of new employment and the encouragement of small
entrepreneurs. However, most annona growers in Latin America have limited
knowledge about appropriate technology, so reap few of the possible
benefits. In addition, few farmers own the appropriate farm implements, and
most of them are still hand-operated and generally inefficient (Van Damme
and Scheldeman, 1999). These limitations lessen their chances of competing
in urban markets.
Rural people of north-eastern Brazil sell soursop and sugar apple fruits along
the federal and state highways, contributing to family income. Some
agroindustries contract small-scale soursop farmers to produce specifically
for them through a dedicated contract system, which is an especially efficient
way of increasing rural family incomes. Although the price offered by
agroindustries is lower than that of urban retailers, the avoidance of
transportation costs and market competition influences the small growers to
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