Research and the northeast brazilian citrus industry.

A review is made focussing on the influence of EMBRAPA's (Brazilian Enterprize for Agricultural Research) program on the development of the citrus industry in Northeastern Brazil, one of the poorest regions of the country. This region comprises almost 20% of the total land surface and almost 30% of the country's population and exhibits serious social and economic contrasts. Due to this extensive area (approximately 1,600,000 km(quadrado) and the large range of climates and soils, although the annual rainfall in almost 60% of the total area is less than 750 mm, the export/import balance is always favorable. Neverthless, continually unbalanced growth between north and south has brought several social problems to the country as a whole. Recognizing this situationregarding the citrus industry in the 60's, where the citrus fruits of late ripening varieties that supplied the northeastern markets were exclusively from the State of Sao Paulo, and led by a citrus culture survey made in the Cruz das Almas area in 1961, a research program was started at the National Research Center for Cassava and Fruit Crops in order to improve varieties, extend harvest time and introduce certain cultural practices such as dense spacing. Ten years later a significant change could be observed - virus free and productive clones (nucellar lines) of late varieties like 'Pera' orange became prefered and close spacing (400 trees/ha) had been widely accepted. As a consequence of research results, regarding the mentioned aspects, almost 100,000 ha of citrus have been planted in the Northeast and especially in the States of Sergipe and Bahia.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	PASSOS, O. S.
Other Authors:	ORLANDO SAMPAIO PASSOS, CNPMF.
Format:	Folhetos biblioteca
Language:	Ingles English
Published:	1990
Subjects:	Citrus, industry,
Online Access:	http://www.infoteca.cnptia.embrapa.br/infoteca/handle/doc/636407
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