Micro and Macroeconomic Analyses of the Pineapple Industry in the State of Tocantins J. Elias Junior a and D.C. Gomes Secretaria da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (SEAGRO) Esplanada das Secretarias, Praça dos Girassóis AANE, CP 104, 77003-020, Palmas, Tocantins Brazil

A.P. de Matos b and C.O. de Almeida c Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura Tropical, Cruz das Almas, Bahia Brazil

Keywords: Ananas comosus var. comosus, yield, market, technology Abstract The world pineapple production in 2006 was 18.26 million metric tons (FAO, 2008). Thailand, Brazil and Philippines were the leading countries holding together 38.5% of world production. In the past ten years the pineapple crop in the State of Tocantins-Brazil showed an 1,080% increase in area harvested. According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics - IBGE (2007) the State of Tocantins contributed in 2006 with 2.49% of the Brazilian pineapple production, but the average yield in that state is 32.3 ton/ha, close to the estimated Brazilian average of 38.3 t/ha. Higher investments towards irrigation and fertilization could significantly increase the productivity obtained in pineapple fields of Tocantins, where this crop is of great economic importance since it generates thousands of jobs as well as increases the income of small, intermediate and large pineapple growers. The use of adequate production technology has enabled pineapple growers to program harvest for periods of low fruit offer in the Brazilian market, resulting in higher fruit prices and income for the growers. In general, the pineapple fields of Tocantins occupy low fertility soils with low aggregated land value. Most of the pineapple produced in the State is sold on fresh fruit markets all over the country. In addition, there is a pineapple canning factory, producing concentrated pineapple juice, with a daily processing capacity of 120 tons. INTRODUCTION According to FAO (2008) the world pineapple production in 2006 reached 18.26 million metric tons, 64% of that production was produced in the Americas and 30% in Southeast Asia. The three main producers, Thailand, Brazil and Philippines, held together 38.5% of the world production. In the past decade there was a decrease in some pineapple growing regions over the world, but in Brazil the production presented a significant growth rate of 5.4% per year. In 2006, Brazil produced a volume of 2,560,632 t in 66,845 ha harvested, resulting in an estimated average yield of 38.3 t/ha. Tocantins contributed with 63,655.5 t (2.49% of the Brazilian total) obtained in 1,973 ha (IBGE, 2007). Its estimated average yield of 32.3 t/ha is lower than the country’s average. In the following sections macroeconomic and microeconomic aspects of the pineapple crop in the state of Tocantins will be discussed, as well as financial resources available for its production and commercialization in that State from 1994 to 2006. The objective of this work was to demonstrate the viability of the pineapple crop in the state of Tocantins, using mostly data collected from the most important trading centers of Brazil.

a

[email protected] [email protected] c [email protected] b

Proc. VIth IS on Pineapple Ed: D.H.R.C. Reinhardt Acta Hort. 822, ISHS 2009

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MATERIAL AND METHODS Data used in this paper were obtained form the following sources: Agrianual, Anuário de Fruticultura, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Instituto Brasileiro de Frutas (IBRAF), Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) and Secretaria de Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento do Estado do Tocantins. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Macroeconomic Analyses In spite of Brazil being one of the largest world pineapple producers, only 0.67% of its production was exported as fresh fruit to other countries in 2006 (SECEX, 2008). The Brazilian pineapple was sent to thirteen countries and five of them, Italy, The Netherlands, Germany, Argentina and Spain, received 87.8% of the total volume exported (Table 1). Some reasons for such a small Brazilian participation in international fresh pineapple trading are: the size of the domestic market, the low experience of Brazilian traders in comparison with those from other pineapple exporting countries and commercial barriers imposed to Brazilian products. According to Tocantins (2006), pineapple fruits from the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Tocantins have been exported mainly to the Mercosul (97%), especially to Argentina. In the past five years, after attending international quality standards, pineapple fruits from the state of Tocantins have also been exported to European Union countries such as France, Portugal and Spain. Currently, Terra Fértil is the only pineapple exporting company, shipping a volume of 60 t per week (Tocantins, 2006). According to the Communication Secretariat of Tocantins State (SECOM), negotiations are underway in order for the Association of Small Producers of the União Settlement Project, located in the municipality of Barrolândia, state of Tocantins, to export 1.2 million pineapple fruits a year. Regarding the domestic market, pineapple fruits from Tocantins are commercialized mainly in the Southeast Region of Brazil, in the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, mostly through the official food supply centers (CEASAs), as shown in Table 2. Microeconomic Analyses In the past ten years the pineapple production chain assumed an important status in the economy of Tocantins State, pushed by the good acceptance of Tocantins’ pineapples by consumers in both domestic and international markets. This resulted from the high quality standard reached by pineapples from several production areas, with emphasis on the region of Miranorte, as recognized by the Brazilian Program for Horticultural Modernization, carried out from the year 2000 by the Brazilian Ministry for Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply - MAPA (Tocantins, 2006). Pineapple harvest in Tocantins is seasonal with low offer from September to midJanuary and high from mid-March to mid-August (Fig. 1). In irrigated pineapple fields where flowering induction treatments can be done earlier, harvest is performed offseason, starting in December and going up to March. Similarly, late flowering induction treatment performed in irrigated pineapple fields enables harvest up to September (Tocantins, 2006). In the past ten years the highest average prices earned by pineapple growers from Tocantins on the fresh fruit market were around R$ 1.80 per fruit, usually during the period of low offer, from January up to mid April. Due to the increase in offer from late April through May and June the pineapple fruit price at farmer’s level decreases to about R$ 1.00. Since pineapple fruits are highly perishable products, in addition to the market inelasticity during the period of high fruit offer, pineapple growers are forced to sell their 318

products within a short time period. Some growers who use irrigation and have technical support from the Project of Integrated Pineapple Production by Embrapa Cassava & Tropical Fruits have been able to program their harvest for the off- season, mostly from late December to February, being able to negotiate better prices that can be as high as R$ 2.50 per fruit (Fig. 2), much higher than its production cost of about R$ 1.00. Offseason offer of pineapple fruits and their sale based upon pre-defined prices allows better planning of the production costs and decreases production risks due to environmental factors. Technological Analyses The pineapple crop in the state of Tocantins is mostly composed by smallholders characterized by traditionalism and application of low technological level in their production systems. About 80% of the pineapple growers cultivate 1 to 10 ha large fields, with the remaining 20% of the producers harvesting 10 to 40 ha large fields (Tocantins, 2006). In 1995, about 500 ha of pineapple were cultivated in the state of Tocantins and about 10,000 t was harvested, with an average yield of 20 t/ha. In 2005, the area harvested reached 2,049 ha and the production was about 81,025 t, an increase of 410% of area and 808% of volume produced (Fig. 3). Productivity practically doubled during the same period (Tocantins, 2006), representing a great response to improvements of the technology level and knowledge applied by the pineapple growers with the technical assistance of the Ruraltins, the Tocantins State Rural Extension Service. The labor in pineapple crop is done by indirect and direct workers who earn, respectively, six to eight and two to four minimal salaries per month. Two workers per hectare per year are needed on average. In many pineapple fields the owners take part in the labor force, thereby decreasing production costs. These costs for rainfed fields are estimated in R$ 15,260 per hectare (about US$ 7,500 /ha) and the net income is estimated to be about 46%. Availability of highways and other infrastructure facilities contribute to reduce transport cost, considered a very important component of the final fruit price at consumer level, as emphasized by traders of the municipality of Miranorte, center of the Tocantins’ pineapple production. Pineapple processing in Tocantins is still at its beginning. There is one industry in Miranorte producing concentrated pineapple juice, with a capacity to process 3,600 tons of pineapple fruit per month. In 2006, the factory processed 14,584 t of pineapple, representing about 18% of the Tocantins State total production (Flora, 2006; personal communication). Fruits absorbed by the processing unit are those that usually do not meet standards for fresh consumption, especially in relation to size. Financial Support Aspects Fruit crop farmers of the state of Tocantins, including pineapple growers may obtain financial support from the Banco da Amazônia and the Banco do Brasil to cover infrastructural and production costs, including commercialization. Accordingly the Banco da Amazônia, the Constitutional Financial Fund for the North (Fundo Constitucional de Financiamento do Norte – FNO), has as action area the whole North Region of Brazil set up by the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins. Support is directed to individuals or cooperatives and associations to cover costs of infrastructure and production for a period of up to five years in the case of pineapple fields. Yearly interest rates vary from 5% for very small growers with a gross annual income lower than R$ 110,000, to 9% for large growers with a gross annual income higher than R$ 1,400,000. Support for infrastructural investments is a percentage of the total financial credit which depends on farm classification according to low, intermediate and high income generation. At the Banco do Brasil several financial funds are available for infrastructure, including machines, irrigation equipment and storage facilities, and production costs with 319

values ranging from R$ 200,000 to R$ 1,200,000. The financial support can be as high as 100% for up to eight years at an interest rate of 8.75% per year. There is also a special program directed to smallholders (Pronaf) with a credit of up to R$ 28,000 at an annual interest rate of 7.25% for a period of two years, corresponding to one pineapple cycle. In addition, there is financial support for up to 100% of commercialization costs at an interest rate of 8.75%, to be paid within a period of three months. Another interesting modality of financial support is the option to receive a credit in an amount corresponding to the harvest estimated, at an interest rate of 8.75% per year, with a maximum credit of R$ 10 million to be paid in four months. As shown by all these credit modalities, the agencies are seeking to meet growers’ demands for financial support from planting to commercialization, in all pineapple production regions of the state of Tocantins. CONCLUSIONS The pineapple industry in Tocantins has experienced a very positive progress over the past ten years and has become one of the most important sectors of the State economy. However, much more can be done to meet its great potential for further development, thereby increasing yield, production and fruit trading on national and international markets. Capacity building activities, supported mostly by governmental institutions, should increase the number of growers using a more professional farm management system, thereby increasing access and use of the different financial support modalities being offered by national banks. In addition to the already rather strong fresh pineapple marketing activities, based upon the good fruit quality and the offer concentrated on the Brazilian off-season for pineapple production, efforts have to be made in order to develop the canning industry stimulated by the significant growth of the fruit based beverages consumption in Brazil and on the international market. Literature Cited AGRIANUAL. 2006. Anuário da Agricultura Brasileira. São Paulo, FNP, 506p. IBGE. 2007. ANUÁRIO ESTATÍSTICO DO BRASIL. Rio de Janeiro. Available at http://www.ibge.gov.br (accessed on Jun.18.07). BRASIL. 2000. Ministério da Agricultura, do Abastecimento e da Reforma Agrária. Mapeamento da fruticultura brasileira. Brasília- DF, Embrapa-SPI, 110p. FAO (Roma, Itália). 2007. Production-Information on the World Market. Available at http://apps.fao.org/cgi-bin/nph-db.pl (accessed on Jun.18.07). SEBRAE. 2006. Projeto abacaxicultura. DARC, Desenvolvimento do abacaxi na Região Central, p.06. SECEX/DATAFRUTA-IBRAF. Available at: http:www.brasilianfruit.org. (accessed on September 20, 2008). TOCANTINS. 2006. Secretaria da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento. Fruticultura. Palmas, TO, SEAGRO. Available at http//:www.to.gov.br/seagro (accessed on June 20, 2007).

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Tables Table 1. Destination of Brazilian pineapple fresh fruit export in 2006. Countries Italy

Value (US$ FOB) 2,175,880

6,249

Percentage of total volume 27,56

Volume (kg)

Netherlands

1,495,915

4,199

18,52

Germany

1,471,717

3,904

17,21

Argentina

952,101

5,126

22,60

Spain

732,532

1,960

8,64

Portugal

161,812

355

1,57

United Kingdom

119,601

310

1,37

Uruguay

106,092

549

2,42

France

11,668

6

0,04

Belgium

9,711

17

0,07

China

880

0.2

-

Bolívia

345

0.05

-

Sweden

310

0.03

-

7,238,564

22,678

100,00

Total

Source: SECEX/DATAFRUTA-IBRAF (http:www.brazilianfruit.org, 20.09.2008).

Table 2. Main destinies in Brazil of pineapples from Tocantins in 2005. Food supply centers (CEASA) Minas de Gerais São Paulo Rio de Janeiro Brasilia Other

Percentage of total volume 12.76 25.18 9.53 26.65 25.88

Source: Tocantins (2006)

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Figures 3,000,000 2,500,000 2,000,000

kg

1,500,000 1,000,000 500,000

December

November

Months

October

September

August

July

June

May

April

Marçh

January

February

0

Source: Tocantins (2006)

Fig. 1. Commercialization (kg) of pineapple fruits from the state of Tocantins during year 2005. 3

2,5

2

1,5

1

0,5

November

December

Months

October

September

August

July

June

May

April

March

January

February

0

Source: CEASA (2005)

Fig. 2. Average price per fruit paid to pineapple growers of the state of Tocantins in year 2005. 90.000 80.000 70.000

P ro d u ctio n (t)

60.000 50.000 40.000 30.000 20.000 10.000 0 1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Year

Source: Tocantins (2006)

Fig. 3. Evolution of pineapple production in the state of Tocantins, Brazil, from 1995 to 2005.

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