“In the second half of this year, the supply of the Prata bananas in the Northern region of Minas Ferais is high, which was already expected by industry agents. The variety is the peak harvest at the moment. The high supply is putting pressure on prices, which is a typical scenario for this period of the year. However, this year the input necessary from producers was more expensive, especially fertilizers. This limits the producers’ profitability. To make matters even worse, drought damage has been damaging the banana production in the Northern region of Minas Gerais”, states HF Brasil in a recent published article.
Explained in the article is that the majority of the volume available during the months August and September, has been of lower quality. “The quality was inferior to that demanded by the market, which has been pressing prices even further. During the months July and August prices have been 21% below the estimated cost to produce bananas.”
HF Brasil states that producers have considered these last months as one of the worst periods for banana farming. “The article says that in this scenario, some banana farmers have considered investing in other crops that are presented better profitability, such as mangrove. The mango is already consolidated in the North of Minas Gerais and is the fruit with the best unit profitability among those followed by Hortifruti / Cepea, since 2016.”
According to producers, the withdrawal of the oldest banana trees can happen by the end of the year, so that mango planting can take place. “New banana trees should be kept in the region, with the expectation that the crop will react next year.”