Viable production

Organic agriculture in Brazil began in the 1970s and emerged as an alternative to the use of chemicals in socioeconomic contexts and philosophical movements of ideas contrary to conventional agriculture (Penteado, 2010).

Organic agriculture is an integral production management system that promotes and improves the health of the agricultural ecosystem, including its biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. The system also emphasizes management practices in preference to the use of inputs external to the property, taking into account the adaptation of systems to regional conditions, using agronomic practices, mechanical and biological methods, to the detriment of the use of synthetic materials to carry out of the functions of a given system (FiBL; Ifoam, 2008).

Protected organic production, using greenhouses, requires more care than open field production. This change is purposeful and managed to control all factors and achieve out-of-season production in order to overcome the problem of crop seasonality, offering the opportunity to produce with quality and obtain better prices for the products (Santos, 2009).

In Brazil, organic producers must be part of the National Register of Organic Producers, which is only possible if they are certified by one of the three mechanisms to guarantee food quality: certification, participatory guarantee systems and social control for food quality. direct sales without certification. These mechanisms are regulated by Normative Instruction 19, of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa/Brazil, 2007, 2009).

Quantitative data on the specific production of organic products are still very scarce in Brazil. According to a survey by IBGE (2006), agricultural establishments producing organic products represented approximately 1,8% of the total investigated in the Agricultural Census. Furthermore, according to data from the IBGE census (2008/2009), per capita consumption of tomatoes in natura in Brazil it is 4,9kg and in Rio Grande do Sul it is on average 7,2kg, showing the potential of this crop.

A study was developed with the objective of sizing the process and studying the technical and economic feasibility of implementing greenhouses for organic tomato production and an agribusiness for minimal processing of tomatoes produced for the city of Pelotas, in Rio Grande do Sul.

Exclusive

The implementation of greenhouses for organic tomato production was studied, with two harvests per greenhouse per year, in its minimum and specific details to diversify the production of a rural property, located in the municipality of Capão do Leão, in Rio Grande do Sul.

The sizing of equipment for the production of minimally processed tomatoes and for sale was carried out in natura, in addition to the flowchart and mass balance for the process. Also, the staff required to carry out all activities was studied.

The following were carried out: survey to size the consumer market, Swot analysis (Casarotto, 2009), using the Ansoff matrix, and economic viability analysis, using the indices: VPL, IRR, IRRm, TMA and payback (Buarque, 1991). Also, four scenarios were studied with price variations per kilo of organic tomatoes: normal: R$ 4,50, optimistic: R$ 7,00, pessimistic 1: R$ 3,00 and pessimistic 2: R$ 3,00 ( however, with 12 greenhouses).

Results and discussion

In the survey carried out with local consumers, 78% of respondents said they consume organic products, 33% consume them frequently and 67% consume them sometimes. Forty-two percent of respondents buy organic products in supermarkets, 37% in fruit stores and 21% in organic product markets. As for the establishments, together they buy around 1t/week of tomatoes at the local Ceasa, which presents a very large price variation (main problem mentioned).

The research was similar to that carried out in large Brazilian centers, according to Market Analysis (2010).

Figure 1 - Flowchart and mass balance of the unit

Figure 2 - Floor plan of the agroindustry and section of the greenhouse

Figure 3 - Perspective of greenhouses, agribusiness and warehouse

The project was studied through the implementation of six greenhouses producing 10.136kg of tomatoes per greenhouse, in two annual harvests and the agroindustry benefiting 340kg/day, operating 16 hours/day, with seven employees. The harvested tomatoes will be stored for 24 hours, then washed by spraying, brushed and dried with fans. Afterwards, the tomatoes will be classified by size into four classes (40mm, 60mm, 80mm and greater than 80mm), in accordance with Brazilian legislation.

The tomatoes will be packaged in two types, one for the retail market (supermarkets, fruit shops) in 500g Styrofoam packaging, wrapped in plastic film and the other for food establishments, in 20kg cardboard boxes. These packages can be stored in the cold room for a maximum of 20 days, as, on average, the fruit lasts 28 days.

Table 1 - Swot Analysis of the enterprise

If 1 greenhouses were installed in pessimistic scenario 12, the indicators would be better, as shown in pessimistic scenario 2, demonstrating that increasing the scale of production also has a great influence on the viability of the project.

Table 1 - Scenarios studied and their respective economic indicators

Conclusion

There is a demand for 10.000kg of organic tomatoes in the city of Pelotas, in Rio Grande do Sul. Six greenhouses are needed to meet this demand and an agribusiness with an installed capacity of 349kg/day, in addition to eight employees.

It was found that the project is viable, as the IRR was greater than the MARR, in the normal, optimistic and pessimistic scenarios 2, positive NPV and payback between two and five years.

The project, with six greenhouses, requires more care in the final sales price, presenting difficulties in cash flow with lower prices, as in pessimistic scenario 1, thus not generating significant financial returns.

This article was published in issue 88 of Cultivar Hortaliças e Frutas magazine. Click here to read the edition.