Cerrado should become Brazil's newest fruit growing hub

The Cerrado of Central Brazil could become Brazil's newest fruit hub in the coming years. This transformation has been worked on within the scope of the RIDE-DF Fruit Growing Route. Actions related to the cultivation of açaí and blueberries have already begun to be carried out. The idea is for the RIDE-DF region to become a national reference in the commercial (non-extractive) planting of açaí, typical of the Amazon region. Hundreds of seedlings of açaí varieties developed by Embrapa (BRS Pará and BRS Pai d´Égua) have already begun to be distributed to family farmers in the DF, Goiás and Minas Gerais.

Initially, a thousand hectares of açaí will be planted, involving the participation of around 100 cooperatives and more than a thousand rural producers. The goal is to deliver more than one million seedlings by May 2023. To be part of the project, it is necessary to use seedlings certified by Embrapa, which guarantees quality and productivity. Research, development and innovation actions are planned to monitor the established orchards and meet the real demands of the production sector.

The forecast is that the crops will begin to bear full fruit in three years. Until then, farmers are suggested to work in consortium with other crops. BRS Pará was the first açaí cultivar for dry land developed by Embrapa and launched in 2005. BRS Pai d´égua was launched in 2019 with the aim of expanding cultivation on dry land. The variety's differential is the well-balanced distribution of annual production – an important fact to overcome the seasonality of fruit production.

Different exotic and native fruit trees will be used on the Fruit Growing Route. To this end, activities are being carried out bringing together fruit growers, public and private agents, technicians, sector professionals and business groups willing to participate effectively in the development of fruit growing, generating economic and social impacts in the region. The Fruit Growing Route is coordinated by Codevasf and developed together with Embrapa and Conab, as well as different public and private partners.

According to Rota's coordinator, Luís Curado, since the project's conception, the idea has always been to focus the work on crops that had a high added value, such as açaí and also blueberries and other red fruits ( berries). According to him, the new fruit hub that is being created will also focus on the cultivation of strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and jabuticaba. Other fruits successfully cultivated in the Cerrado region will still have space and encouragement, such as guava, papaya, passion fruit, pitaya, avocado, citrus, in addition to native Cerrado fruits, which are a means of generating income for small producers in restoration areas of environmental liabilities and also areas suitable for extractivism.

According to Curado, the work of the Fruticulture Route is becoming a reference and serving as an example for other national integration routes. “We simplified the program methodology. Our goal is to identify problems, their causes and solutions. Furthermore, our planning is broad and goes from the certified seedling to the final consumer,” he said. According to the coordinator, the objective of the program is to generate wealth in the countryside. “To achieve this, it has to be integrated work, with a focus on cooperativism, associations, organization and training of farmers”.

The ongoing actions of the Rota da Fruticultura were presented during the Fruticulture Forum, a meeting held within the program of Expoabra 2022, an event that took place from the 6th to the 18th of September, at the Granja do Torto Exhibition Park, in Brasília-DF. The Forum’s theme was “Fruit growing transforming the agricultural scenario”. In addition to Rota's actions, the theme of the fruit market was also presented. “More than 80% of the fruits consumed in Brasília, for example, come from abroad. We have a large market to be explored. Our intention is to supply both this internal and external market”, stated Curado.

Tropicalization of fruit growing in the Cerrado

Research, development, technology transfer and innovation actions related to the tropicalization of fruit growing in the Cerrado were also presented at the forum. The topics were addressed by the researcher and deputy head of technology transfer at Embrapa Cerrados, Fábio Faleiro. “The Cerrado region is prosperous for fruit growing. We have more than one million rural properties, the majority of which belong to small farmers. And fruit growing is an excellent option for economic viability on small properties,” he said. According to him, however, it is essential that producers, regardless of their profile, use technology in the production system. “The enterprise has to be treated in a business manner. There is no way to give that up,” he emphasized.

According to Faleiro, science and technology have transformed agriculture in the Cerrado region. In the 1970s, Brazil imported food and currently produces food for more than one billion people (approximately five times the Brazilian population). Various technologies developed over the years have been important for the tropicalization of different species of grains and are also important for the tropicalization of fruits. He emphasizes, however, that each region has its own particularities in relation to the fruit production system and the appropriate technological adjustments must be made in the day-to-day operations of the orchards. “The success of fruit growing in a tropical environment depends on a set of research and development actions, technology transfer and also on the vocation and strength of the rural producer”, he states.

The researcher shared fruit growing experiences in the Cerrado region, where tropical, subtropical and temperate fruits are successfully cultivated, as long as technology is used in the production system. An example of success presented by Faleiro was the high productivity of the sour passion fruit cultivar BRS Gigante Amarelo in the greenhouse. “The average for the DF region is more than 100 tons per hectare per year, which is seven times greater than the national average productivity. We have technology for producing protected cultivation of various fruit trees, which guarantees high productivity, longevity of the orchard, high quality of fruits, production in the off-season, lower occurrence of diseases and pests and is an alternative to crop rotation”, he explained.

According to Faleiro, the main fruit farming research at Embrapa involves the genetic improvement of materials, production systems (propagation, phytosanitary management, nutrition, irrigation) and value addition (at harvest, post-harvest and in agroindustry). “Propagative material with superior genetics is the basis of the orchard’s success. It is very important that producers use propagative materials (seeds and seedlings) developed by research with genetically superior characteristics”. Embrapa has already registered more than 420 cultivars of the most different fruit trees (exotic and native) in MAPA. Information about these cultivars and contact information for suitable seed and seedling producers can be found by accessing here. Production systems for different fruit trees using good agricultural practices were also developed through research and can be accessed here.

National Integration Routes

The RIDE-DF Fruit Growing Route is one of the National Integration Routes, networks of local productive arrangements associated with strategic production chains capable of promoting productive inclusion and sustainable development in Brazilian regions prioritized by the National Regional Development Policy. The objective of the Rota da Fruticultura is to professionalize the fruit production chain, integrating the subsystems of inputs, production, extractivism, processing and marketing, through the creation of agroforestry, agro-industrial and specialized service systems.

The partners are the Ministry of Regional Development, CODEVASF, CONAB, in addition to Embrapa, with support from the Federal Superintendence of Agriculture of the Federal District (SFA/DF), Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA), SENAR-DF, EMATER-DF and Organization of DF Cooperatives (OCDF).