tradicionalmenteinovador - Brazil Buyers & Sellers

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>> Cassava supply chain seeks to revitalize this
traditional staple in national agriculture
Cassava (also known as Yuca or manioc), has been extensively
cultivated in Brazil since the Country was discovered, and
continues as an expressive crop, but has not yet earned the recognition
desired by the agents of the sector, who are seeking
more space for the traditional crop. While the Brazilian population
continues on the rise, the production of this root has
remained steady over the past years, which, according to the
Family Budget Survey conducted by the Brazilian Institute of
Geography and Statistics (IBGE), has reflected on consumption
receding from 2.27 kilos to 1.77 kilos per person a year, from
2002 to 2008.
Total production has oscillated from 22 to 26.6 million tons
over the past three decades. The planted area has gone down,
but was compensated by higher yields, which could hit record
highs in 2011 – 14.8 t per hectare. All the projections estimated
by the IBGE in June this year are available at Embrapa Cassava
and Fruit Farming, based in Cruz das Almas (BA).
Thus, total production in all Brazilian states is estimated
at 26.3 million tons, up 8.2% from 2010, when, according to
estimates, it remained at 24.3 million tons. Besides advances
in yields, a slight increase
in the planted area is also
supposed to occur, to 1.781
million hectares. The follow-
Inor Ag. Assmann
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