Vegetable market and expectations for 2021 are topics for Agrivalle's online event

Agro em Debate, an initiative designed and carried out by Agrivalle, will bring together cycles of lectures and technical debates broadcast online and live via the company's official YouTube channel over the next few months, presenting the best tools, technologies and innovative solutions to help producers to produce more and more and with better quality. 

During the February edition, held on 24/02/2021, Rafael Corsino, president of the national associations of garlic (ANAPA) and onion (ANACE) producers, brought data on the production of vegetables, especially garlic, for the year 2020 as well as a projection for 2021, ending with a series of advice for the field. 

With the growth of the world population, where projections reach 9,7 billion people, according to the UN, countries that have land available to produce food will be motivated to help meet the demand for food. "With this, we have a challenge in increasing productivity and production. Today Brazil stands out, because we feed one for every four people in the world. I am sure that we have great potential to reach this position as the largest food producer in the coming years We have in our favor the arable and available areas, we have an appropriate climate practically 12 months of the year, as we are a tropical country, and we have technology that can help us in this mission", says Rafael Corsino. 

According to Corsino, important bodies such as the UN itself or other deliberative bodies should see Brazil as the breadbasket of the world. But, with the pandemic, even HF productions that have crops that produce year-round have faced major challenges. "Vegetable production in Brazil is aimed more at the domestic market. But the pandemic hindered vegetable production. We had serious consequences and with the closure of bars and restaurants in the first half of the year, we believed there would be serious problems. But, with the amount of rain of the first semester, this balanced production", says Corsino.

In the second half of the year, productivity increased and with it, the change in eating habits and the reduction in wages, along with emergency aid from the government, supported the vegetable trade, which continued. "We had a very high consumption of garlic, I believe that part of this is due to the property of increasing and improving immunity that garlic offers. To measure this, we went from 30 million boxes of garlic weighing 10 kilos, to a consumption of 36 million boxes of 10 kilos of garlic", he says.

In 2021, the country is experiencing a scenario very similar to last year, as there was an increase in rainfall and the pandemic is still in place, but with an extra element: the arrival of the vaccine. While it helps that some can return to their activities, still using safety resources such as masks, distancing and alcohol gel, others are still waiting and as a result, there is a shortage of professionals to work in the field. “Vegetable production had an increase in production costs, for example: fertilizer went from 1.700 ton to 2.700 ton, bags went from 1,10 to 1,50; the dollar has increased and therefore the effects of the pandemic still do not allow us to develop the field further. We need to be very careful this harvest," he explains.

Corsino also remembers that it is necessary to have faith and operate in a way that helps the chain as a whole. He warns that, at this moment, forcing the market, going out to sell everything that has been planted, will make the price fall and this will harm the sector even more. As guidelines, he mentions storage in cold chambers, as they have been doing with garlic, to be sold in the next 10 to 12 months of 2021. Furthermore, he provides some advice for the HF producer: 

To watch the debate in full, follow along or find out more about upcoming events, simply access and complete your registration at: http://agroemdebate.agr.br/