2024/25 passion fruit harvest sees increased production in SC

The 2024/2025 passion fruit harvest in Santa Catarina ended with an estimated production of 56,8 tons, a 26,2% increase over the previous year's 45 tons. Orchard yield averaged 28,4 tons per hectare, compared to 22,5 tons per hectare in the previous harvest. This survey was conducted by Epagri in conjunction with wholesalers and Cooperja in the south of the state, where the largest production of the fruit in Santa Catarina is concentrated.

This performance was achieved despite the lack of rainfall caused by the La Niña climate phenomenon. "Despite the increase in production compared to the previous harvest, there were periods of drought that limited the productivity of the orchards without irrigation. In addition to the drought, we had excessive temperatures in January, which influenced flower formation. The main flowering period for the passion fruit tree is precisely in January," reports the leader of Epagri's Fruit Growing Program in Southern Santa Catarina, agronomist Eusébio Pasini Tonetto.

According to the survey, the average prices paid per kilo of fruit were between R$2,30 and R$2,50, which resulted in a Gross Production Value (VBP) of R$135 million reais generated in the Santa Catarina economy. 

Technologies to improve production

Despite the emergence of the fruit hardening virus in 2016 in Santa Catarina, average productivity from 2018 to now has increased by 57,7%. Agricultural engineer Diego Adílio da Silva, a rural extension agent at the Epagri office in Cocal do Sul, attributes this growth to the lack of sanitary conditions and the improved quality of the seedlings produced. Production of advanced seedlings, taller than 0,8 m, has begun in the state, supported by the Safe Passion Fruit Seedlings program. Since its inception, 67 projects have been developed, totaling over R$1,3 million invested by the State Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock (Sape).

Other factors that contributed to the increase were fertilizer management, cultural practices, pest and disease control, and the planting of the SCS437 Catarina cultivar, highly adapted to Santa Catarina's climate conditions, registered with Epagri in 2015. "In addition, we developed technologies and publications for balanced fertilization and pest and disease control at appropriate times," explains the rural extension agent.

Based on this, Diego notes that passion fruit production in Santa Catarina needs to advance in the development of technologies, knowledge, and management, with a focus on issues related to sprayer regulation and the application of phytosanitary products. "We also need to move toward integrated passion fruit production, using other types of control," he says.

Public incentive policies

To mitigate drought events in passion fruit cultivation in Santa Catarina, 2024 credit proposals for irrigation were prepared in 2025 and 93 (through August) through SAPE's Water for All Program. These proposals resulted in 127 hectares of land being irrigated during this period.

Currently, there are a thousand families who make a living from passion fruit cultivation in Santa Catarina, covering over 2 hectares. The state is the third-largest producer of the fruit in Brazil, behind Ceará and Bahia. Southern Santa Catarina accounts for 90% of the planted area. Harvest begins in December and continues until mid-July.