tradicionalmenteinovador - Brazil Buyers & Sellers

The garlic production sector in Brazil has for years been
putting up with direct and strong competition from imports,
which have been the main source of supply since the second
half of the 1990s and continue high and taking advantage
of the favorable exchange rate. The legal status of these
transactions, nonetheless, is being challenged by the National
Association of Garlic Producers (Anapa).
In 2009, total purchases from abroad, particularly from
China and Argentina, amounted to 151.7 thousand tons. In
the meantime, Brazil produced 87 thousand tons, accounting
for 36.4% of the Country’s needs, or 31.9%, if 15% of the
crop is excluded as seed reserve, according to the calculations
by researchers Waldemar Pires de Camargo Filho and
Felipe Pires de Camargo, of the Agricultural Economy Institute,
an organ run by the Agribusiness Technology
Agency of São Paulo (IEA-Apta). Over the 1991-94
period, the rate was 65.5%, according to the same
source.
The crop stands out among the vegetables for
its high unitary value, which in 2009 reached R$ Ano
4,250 per ton, according to a survey by Embrapa
Vegetables, of Brasília (DF), generating R$ 370 million
in revenue. The year before, a ton sold for R$
3,500.
The high value prompted the national crop to
react, and in 2010 it is believed to have progressed
to 104.6 thousand tons, according to estimates by
the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics
(IBGE), with yields soaring to 9.9 tons per hectare.
Imports, nevertheless, continued high throughout
2010, with 154.5 tons acquired from abroad.
With regard to 2011, IBGE sources also anticipate
a small increase in planted
area, estimated at 11 thousand
hectares, with yields receding
slightly. Agronomist Marco Antônio
Lucini, of the Rural Extension and Agricultural
Research Corporation (Epagri)
of Santa Catarina and honorary president
of Anapa, foresees good productivity
rates for this year. For the Cerrado region
alone, which experienced hefty production
expansions over the past years, he announces
the production of upwards of 72 thousand
tons of high quality garlic. Currently, the leading
producers are Goiás, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do
Sul and Santa Catarina.
beginning in the 1990s, due to the population’s rising purchasing
power induced by the implementation of the Real
Plan, in 1994, when food purchases began to make strides,
and also because industrialization began to thrive. According
IBGE surveys, conducted in 2002 and 2008, per capita
consumption of garlic soared 21% over the period, reaching
0.49 kilos per person a year.
The Brazilian producers are sparing no effort to regain
the major portion of this market. To this end, they have gone
in pursuit of solutions from Anapa, with the aim to embark
on a “loyal competition” trip with the leading exporters, particularly
China, the leading supplier, once legal questions
have been surmounted, with a petition filed in the government
and the justice department.
>> POUCAS CABEÇAS . Few cloves
Evolução do alho no Brasil
Área
(mil ha)
Produção
(mil t)
Produtividade
(t/ha)
Disponibilidade
(kg/hab/ano)
1980 12 40 3,263 0,340
1990 17 71 4,145 0,485
2000 13 84 6,341 0,491
2001 14 102 7,127 0,586
2002 16 114 7,282 0,649
2003 15 123 8,153 0,688
2004 11 86 8,139 0,471
2005 10 86 8,319 0,473
2006 10 88 8,368 0,478
2007 11 99 8,794 0,538
2008 10 92 8,967 0,498
2009 10 87 8,621 0,453
Fontes: IBGE/PAM 2010 e Embrapa Hortaliças
>> RISING CONSUMPTION Garlic cultivations in
Brazil settled down in regions where technology is available
for boosting the productivity rates, which has been rising
at a rate of 4.57% a year over the past two decades, from
figures released by the IEA-Apta researchers. They also point
to soaring consumption rates, a phenomenon that had its
IMPORT VOLUMES
OUTSTRIP THE
NATIONAL CROP
Sílvio Ávila
41