Brazil: Oranges left to rot in plantations of Ribeirão Preto
They affirm to be receiving around 9 Brazilian Real per 40.8 kilo box; well below the production costs, estimated at 18 Real.
The situation has also caused delays in the harvest in the regions of Ribeirão Preto (313 kilometres from São Paulo) and Triangulo Mineiro, where experts and producers expect harvest volumes to drop by 20 %. Around 20,000 jobs generated by the sector are also at risk.
In Taquaritinga (334 kilometres from São Paulo), the grower Lindolfo Rodrigues Santos Filho said that he would reduce the orange acreage and replace it with sugar cane to reduce his losses.
Droughts in recent months have also contributed to the loss in productivity. “Good orange trees will continue to lose strength over the next two weeks. It is a situation that has become worse and worse since 2010,” he said.
In Bebedouro (381 kilometres from São Paulo), the president of Associtrus (the Brazilian Association of Citrus Growers), Flávio Viegas, said that at least 2,000 producers will convert their plantations to other crops to prevent losses. He said that the orange acreage has fallen by 21 % since 2004.
Meanwhile, the executive director of CitrusBR (the National Association of Citrus Exporters), Ibiapata Netto, said that growers may expect improvements in the harvest by 2015, after two good campaigns.
In the 2011/12 campaign, for example, the sector’s harvest was of 428 million boxes, which should have generated around 300 million dollars in June of the following year.
With the increase in harvest volumes, the production of juice reached 765,900 tonnes in 2013. This is expected to drop to 517,000 tonnes in 2014 and 350,000 next year, which should benefit producers.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo