Senar-PR helps strengthen Paraná’s viticulture

In 2023, Paraná viticulture will receive incentives to stimulate the production of grapes and their derivatives. The Paraná Viticulture Revitalization Program (Revitis), created by the State government in 2019, is intensifying activities this year, resuming development projects after the pandemic. Revitis seeks to integrate the grape production chain, train producers and restructure the state research network for viticulture, in addition to promoting tourism related to the culture.

Within the scope of Revitis, Senar-PR works to train technicians from the Rural Development Institute of Paraná (IDR-Paraná), city halls and cooperatives. Subsequently, these professionals provide technical assistance to producers supported by the program, so that they can increase quality production.

To this end, Senar-PR developed specific training for the program. The modules occur according to the crop cycle, scheduled to end in May 2024, together with the grape harvest. To date, three modules have been carried out: “Viticulture overview and market”, “Grape cultivars for table and processing” and “Planning and implementation”.

“We will address all technical aspects of the crop, such as soil type, nutrition, pruning and training systems, management, pests and diseases, among others. We will also bring topics of relevance for producers to operate in the market, such as environmental management, ESG, certification, labeling and traceability, in addition to industrialization and good manufacturing practices”, says Vanessa Reinhart, technician from the Technical Department (Detec) of the FAEP System/ Senar-PR.

Support

Since 2019, Revitis has directly supported 382 family farmers, 17% of the state's winegrowers, and signed agreements with 28 municipalities in 13 regional centers. This support is part of the first axis established by the program, to encourage production. Revitis also involves commercialization, tourism development and support for agroindustry. The contribution from the State Department of Agriculture and Supply (Seab) is more than R$7 million, in addition to R$622 thousand from the city halls.

“Partnerships with municipalities are essential for Revitis to have capillarity, reaching small producers, who are, for the most part, those who work with viticulture in Paraná. Each group of producers has its own characteristics and Revitis will meet their demands”, highlights Ronei Andretta, program coordinator.

Recently, for example, the municipality of Rio Negro, in partnership with the state government and Cooperante, an agricultural cooperative in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba (RMC), purchased a truck with an isothermal body. In Santa Tereza do Oeste, in western Paraná, a seedling nursery was installed in an IDR-Paraná research center, to make genetic material available to producers.

Challenges and opportunities

Currently, Paraná occupies the fifth position in national grape production, with an average of 52 thousand tons. In 2019, a diagnosis of state viticulture identified loss of area and production volume, due to competition with the market in other regions and the misuse of agricultural pesticides.

“There was an expectation of an increase in grape processing capacity by up to four times. By 2019, practically all of the raw material was already coming from neighboring states, mainly Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. We identified this opportunity to strengthen small properties and tourist routes in Paraná, and created Revitis”, says Andretta. With the program, the expectation is to expand the planted area to more than 6 thousand hectares (currently 3,6 thousand hectares), returning to the 2010 level.

According to Seab, state industries import more than 90% of the table grapes they use to make juices and colonial wines and around 84% of the grapes for fine wines. On the other hand, the quality of the Paraná grape is already recognized. The Geographical Indication (GI) seals for Marialva's fine table grapes and Bituruna's wines guarantee recognition of the origin of these specialties, which adds value to the product and boosts tourism.

In terms of marketing, according to Andretta, the proposal is to create a price parameter for producers and agribusinesses, allowing greater remuneration for better quality products. Furthermore, there is a proposal to create a technical chamber for the viticulture sector, responsible for deliberating on public policies in the production chain, and creating lines of credit.