l
EXPORTS ON THE RISE IN 2017
Export related data indicate an increase of 3.1% in the volume of papayas shipped
abroad in 2017, compared to the previous year, but without reaching the record of 2015
(39.8million kilograms). The EuropeanUnion is the leading buyer of the Brazilian fruit. In-
creasestookplaceinPortugalandSpain,firstandthirdbiggestimportersin2017,withthe
Netherlands coming second. As for the revenue, it fell 4%, possibly because of the more
limitedpatternof the fruit in that year, sayCepea sources. Initial expectations, capturedby
theCenteraboutthesalesabroadin2018,refertopossiblesmallervolumesonthatscore.
Water crises over the past years have af-
fected the papaya crop inBrazil, secondbig-
gest producer in the world, coming only af-
ter India, with a reduction in planted areas,
which are concentrated in the states of Ba-
hia, Espírito Santo, Ceará, Rio Grande do
Norte and Minas Gerais. In 2017, the crop
tookadvantageoftimelyrainfall,thoughbe-
low average, and did not manage to reverse
the effect of the lack of water. In the mean-
time, phytosanitary problems occurred in
regions that experienced excessive precip-
itation, affecting production, while profit-
ability, contrary to 2016, was a problem.
These obstacles discouraged the farm-
ers to continue cultivating the crop in 2018.
Judging from the late 2017 forecast by the
Center for Applied Studies on Advanced
Economics (Cepea) of the Luiz de Queiroz
College of Agriculture (Esalq), a division of
theUniversityof SãoPaulo (USP), the reduc-
tion in planted area is likely to reach 10% in
the main producing regions. This reduction
is supposed to be bigger in the North of Es-
pírito Santo (15%), in Rio Grande do Norte
(14%), and 11% in the Southern Bahia re-
gion. For theNorthern region of Minas Gerais
the crop is supposed to remain stable, while
in Western Bahia, with better results in 2017,
some increasewasprojected.
In general, besides the weather and san-
itary questions faced by the crop, prices
fetchedbythefarmerssufferedadropin2017.
For the Formosa variety, there was a reduc-
tion of more than 55%, and the Havaí variety
suffered a drop of 70%, from the previous pe-
riod, according to surveys conducted by Ce-
pea’s Hortifruti Department. Analyst Marce-
la Guastalli Barbieri detected a slower market
in 2017, whilst shipments abroad were slight-
ly higher, particularly in the states of Espírito
Santo, Rio Grande do Norte and Bahia, and
also because of air transport. However, prices
fetchedabroadalsosufferedadrop.
Largest
growing regions
are located
in the states
of Bahia and
Espírito Santo
67
A COLHEITA DOMAMÃO
•
PAPAYA HARVEST
Produçãobrasileira comdados consolidados
Ano
2014
2015
2016
Área (ha)
32.989
30.545
30.372
Produção (kg)
1.603.351
1.481.190
1.424.650
Valor (R$)
1.210.732
1.181.595
1.472.522
Fonte: IBGE/PAM2016.
EMBARQUES
•
SHIPMENTS
Exportaçãoda frutanosúltimos anos
Ano
2015
2016
2017
Volume (kg)
39.798.647 37.938.585 39.117.411
Receita (US$)
43.675.555 43.088.633 41.349.952
Fonte: Agrostat/Mapa.
