Output of acai berry amounted to 1.1 million metric tons in 2016
September 21, 2017 10h00 AM | Last Updated: October 09, 2017 10h02 AM
According to the Municipal Agricultural Survey (PAM), released today, from 2015 to 2016 the national output of acai berry increased from 1.0 to 1.1 million metric tons. The IBGE is now investigating acai crops in an agricultural survey for the first time. Results show that Pará was the main producer among the Federation Units, accounting for 98.3% of the national output. The 20 biggest producing municipalities are located in that state, the main highlight being Igarapé-Miri, the main national producer, with 305.6 thousand metric tons and 28.0% of the output in Brazil. Together, the five main producing municipalities (Igarapé-Miri, Cametá, Abaetetuba, Bujaru and Portel) account for 62.7% of the state production.
In 2016, the value of output of fruits hit R$ 33.3 billion, with an increase of 26.0% against the 2015 figure. That is the biggest increase since 2001, when the positive change had reached 48.6%. The six main products represented 73.2% of the national output: orange (25.1%), banana (25.0%), pineapple (7.3%), grape (6.4%), apple (5.0%) and papaya (4.4%). São Paulo (30.9%) was the main state in terms of output value, followed by Bahia, with 12.2%.
Among the municipalities, Petrolina (PE) accounted for the biggest contribution to the value of national output. The crops of grapes, mango, guava and banana are highlights in the municipality that had 1.9% of the national value of fruit. Petrolina is located in the São Francisco Valley, one of the most important regions for national fruit farming.
According to Larissa Leone, supervisor of the survey, eight products accounted for the increase in output value, in order of relevance: orange, banana, lemon, apple, papaya, tangerine, melon and nuts. “The increase in the output value resulted from the decrease of world and national stocks of orange. As Brazil is the main producer and exporter of orange in the world, the decrease of stocks represents a reduction of exports, and, as a result, the rise of its price in the international market. The other citrus fruits follow the same trend as that of orange, the flagship of this group”. Banana and apple, on the other hand, were affected by the cold which led to the decrease of productivity of both crops.
The total value of agricultural output was R$ 317.5 billion, 20.0% more than in 2015. The main factors accounting for that were the increases in the output of value of soybeans (16.1%), corn (26.5%), sugarcane (18.3%) and coffea arabica (43.5%).
São Paulo is the main state in terms of participation in the output value, with 16.4% of the national total, an increase of 1.4% over the previous year. Among the municipalities, Sorriso (MT), the main national producer of soybeans and corn, accounted for 20.8% of the output value of agriculture in the state of Mato Grosso (MT). It also took the leading position in the ranking of value of national agricultural output, with R$ 3.2 billion, increase of 28.3%, surpassing São Desidério (BA), whose output fell by 33.5%.
Text: Eduardo Peret
Image: Flickr/Ubirajara Machado
Graph: Helga Szpiz
