Sugar, coffee and orange make the country an agricultural power
DCI
Sugar, coffee and frozen orange juice are cultures that assure the Brazilian leadership in the world ranking of agricultural production and exports, according to the latest survey (2008) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) with the AgroStat. Also according to the balance, hog raising appears in fourth place both in production and in external sales, while maize ranks third in planting and shipments to other countries.
The exports of the agribusiness in June resulted in US$ 6.899 billion, which means a 6% fall compared to same period of last year, according to the balance made by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa).
In the case of sugar, the total exports of the commodity, according to data of the AgroStat, amounts to US$ 5.4 billion. "First of all, Brazil relies on the tripod: land, sunlight and water. The sugarcane requires fertile soil and good lighting. Another major difference is that in the last three decades the Country presented good performances on research and development, even though it has few technological resources", said Miguel Biegai Júnior analyst of Safras&Mercado. The specialist mentioned the example of some South African countries that feature the tripod: "The genetics of the plant is different and it does not adapt to the differences: weather, soil, plagues and fertilizer", he said.
The survey also indicates the total export of coffee is of US$ 4.7 billion, a figure that assures the leadership of the culture in production and shipments. According to the National Food Supply Company (Conab), the estimate of national production of the 2010 harvest of processed coffee indicates 47.04 million sacks (60 kilograms), an increase of 19.2%, or 7.57 million sacks compared to the growing of 39.47 million sacks of the 2009 harvest. The increase results from the year of the two-year period of positive cycle of the culture, besides the favorable weather conditions until the month of December last year.
Brazil is also a leader in the production and export of frozen orange juice, according to the balance that indicates sales of US$ 1.1 billion. According to the Brazilian Fruit Institute (Ibraf), only the production of Persian Lime stands out in the external sales, however, when the whole culture is taken into account, the Country does not remain at the top of the chart, as happens with orange. "The characteristics of the weather favors the State of São Paulo, and few countries have that, except for Florida (USA)", explained Christian Lohbauer, President of CitrusBR. And he completed: "60% of the juice in the world is produced in Brazil, while 80% of the juice exported comes from the Country".