Project proposes line of credit for strawberry producers in the State of São Paulo

The development of a financing line to benefit the São Paulo strawberry production chain was discussed this week at the São Paulo Department of Agriculture and Supply (SAA), with representatives from the Association of Strawberry and Fruit and Vegetable Producers of Atibaia and Jarinu.

An initial proposal was presented at the meeting for the credit to be made available through the São Paulo Agribusiness Expansion Fund (Feap). The project, prepared by the Association, will be studied by the Department of Agriculture, which intends to evaluate each item to effectively serve the sector, with a launch scheduled for later this year.

For the executive secretary of SAA, Edson Fernandes, the line needs to serve the entire state and encourage the promotion, mainly, of small and medium-sized rural producers. “This is our objective, the state has to be close to the farmer and contribute to the development of the sector from the end of the production chain, which starts in the field and ends at the consumer”, said the secretary.

According to the Institute of Agricultural Economics (IEA - Apta), São Paulo is one of the largest strawberry producing states, with 15,4% of national production, which corresponds to 5,8 thousand tons of the fruit per year. The municipality of Atibaia is the largest producer in the state, representing 24% of the total planted.

The executive secretary of Feap, Daniel Miranda, was present; the heads of the Atibaia Agriculture House (CATI) and Jarinu: Emanoel Haddad and André Luiz Barreto; the president of the Strawberry Association of Atibaia/Jarinu, Osvaldo Maziero; the secretary of Agriculture of Atibaia, Gabriel Sola and the agronomist, Marcos Albertini.

SAA and the strawberry sector

The Department of Agriculture and Supply is already dedicating its efforts to strawberry production in the state of São Paulo. The laboratory in Tietê was created in response to a demand for strawberry matrices from the Association of Strawberry and Fruit and Vegetable Producers of Atibaia, Jarinu and the surrounding region. The objective of the work carried out by the Tietê Micropropagation Laboratory is to produce matrices with high genetic and phytosanitary quality.

Currently, CATI produces around 30 thousand strawberry matrices per year in the laboratory and most of them are destined for the association of producers of Atibaia and Jarinu.