tradicionalmenteinovador - Brazil Buyers & Sellers

vegetable more alluring.
Data gathered by Embrapa Vegetables,
based in Brasília (DF), from
the producers’ side, indicate that carrot
crops expanded 430%, in comparison
to 1980. During that decade
and the next, in the 1990s, there were
considerable increases both in planted
area and productivity rates, due to the
implementation of new technologies.
The production volumes stabilized, but
they have still been slightly and gradually
rising since 1980, leading to the
biggest volume on record, in 2009: 796
thousand tons.
Back then, carrot prices also soared
considerably, from R$ 1,040 to R$ 1,200
a ton, which generated total revenue
of R$ 955.2 million. According to Embrapa,
the crop generates 159 thousand
Jobs throughout the Country.
Analyses released by the Center for
Advanced Studies on Applied Economics,
a division of Luiz de Queiroz College
of Agriculture, linked with the University
of São Paulo (Cepea/Esalq/USP), on
the main production fields, confirm the
continuity of the good yields and area
increases, at least in the summer crop
of the 2010/11 season.
Regions that stand out for their
production volumes are spread
throughout Minas Gerais (São Gotardo,
Santa Juliana and Uberaba), Bahia
(Irecê and João Dourado), Paraná
(Marilândia do Sul, Apucarana and
Califórnia), Rio Grande do Sul (Caxias
do Sul and Antônio Prado) and Goiás
(Cristalina).
In terms of national consumption,
Family Budget Surveys conducted by
the Brazilian Institute of Geography
and Statistics (IBGE), in 2002 and 2008,
point to a decrease in per capita consumption
from 1.75 kilos to 1.55 kilos
a year. This realization is cause for concern
and should prompt campaigns intended
to conquer consumers, a move
that is already underway, consisting in
minimal processing initiatives, whereby
the product is presented in distinct
and more practical packaging, which
is taken as the right course for getting
consumption back on track.
Inor Ag. Assmann
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