growing an industry - ge
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ing regions. Te northeast, or instance, is
amous or its Caribbean-style beaches, but
a good part o its countryside is plagued by
requent droughts. Te semi-arid landscape
in most o this part o Brazil resembles that
o the southwestern United States and not
the green, luxurious orests most oreigners
picture when they think o Brazil.
But the region also includes the nearly
3,000-oot high Ibiapaba plateau, 220 miles
rom Ceará’s capital, Fortaleza, which had
a mostly unexplored agricultural potential.Ten a government study showed this area
had avorable conditions or flower cultiva-
tion: cooler nights and more regular rainall,
plenty o underground water, a relatively flat
landscape, plus inexpensive land and labor.
In order to make such development pro-
gram bloom within a reasonable timerame,
the state agriculture secretariat set out to solve
possible obstacles.
First was the government’s own slow speed
Background
While Brazil is still not a major player
in the international flower market – unlike
its success as top world producer o several
other crops – the export o flower products
has grown. In 2007 Brazil’s flower exports
marked their fifh consecutive yearly export
record – even i at a modest $35 million,
mostly with cuttings and bulbs sales.
Most o Brazil’s flower production takes
place in its industrial south, where a milder
climate and higher income work in avor o
flower growing and sales.
In Brazil’s less-developed northeast how-
ever, most actors seem to conspire against
it. Its hot and sunny weather doesn’t avor
flower cultivation in greenhouses. So not
surprisingly, the region has the least flower
consumption as well. Te state o Ceará or
example, has an average income equivalent
to hal o the national standard.
Brazil is a huge country with contrast-
I a bouquet o flowers is a gif that shows
you care, what would a whole flower industry
be?
In Ceará, a state in northeastern Brazil,
concerted government action created an
export flower business that has grown rom
virtually nothing in the year 2000 to the
second largest in the country – and first in
rose production.
otal flower acreage has gone rom 55 acres
in 1999 to 634 at the end o 2006 and exports
o flower products jumped 19 percent rom2006 to 2007, reaching a value o $5 million
(U.S.)
It isn’t a bed o roses yet, there are still
issues to be resolved, especially the air-cargo
bottleneck – there is not enough air reight
room to transport roses in the amount and
requency growers need. But all in all, the
success o Ceará´s initiative has attracted
attention in and out o Brazil.
Growing an Industry Brazil project has created economic opportunity By Mauricio Mathias
An outside view of the Reijers Produção de Rosas facility in the Brazilian state of Ceará. A concerted government program created a booming flower industry where none had
existed before.
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was built at the capital airport or customs
inspections beore shipment.
Finally, they had to deal with the thorniest
issue o all: breeders’ rights. Because national
plant protection laws are still unclear on
vegetatively-reproduced plants, Ceará could
not afford litigation with oreign breeders.
o overcome this, direct breeder-grower
agreements or royalty payments had to be
worked out by each exporter in order to
receive government support.
Help or incoming arms meant assistance
or potential buyers to find land, public ser-
vices had to be guaranteed up to the arm gate,
and exemptions were granted on added-value
taxes or imported production materials.
Own backyard
Te unexpected, but welcomed, surprise
was that the opportunity was seized by Brazil’sown growers and businessmen, rather than
by international firms. Cearosa, Ceará’s very
first rose greenhouse, was locally owned, and
since its owner didn’t have an agricultural
background himsel, his first action was to
hire Julio Cantillo to manage production, a
position he still holds.
Ceará to some o the main U.S.
and European lower trade
shows to spread the word about
this opportunity and to assess
overseas markets.
Te main logistical advantage
or Brazil’s northeast is the
shorter distances to the U.S. and
Europe compared to the main
production centers in the south.
Tis has already been proved in
the ruit sector. Some northeast-
ern states have become major
exporters o tropical ruit to
northern hemisphere markets
and much o this growth was
achieved by attracting key
international ruit companies
to its canal-irrigated projects.
Te prospective flower com-
panies proved to be more elu-
sive. While many came to visit
Ibiapaba, and a couple did buy
land there, none actually started
growing. Te project may never have gotten
off the ground i local players hadn’t stepped
orward.
Another hurdle on the list was the lack
o local expertise in flowers. A Colombian
consultant, Julio Cantillo, was hired by
Agropolos. Inrastructure was also a problem.
o answer it, an 860-square-oot cold room
to implement such plans. o overcome this,
project-specific activities were outsourced to
the Agropolos Institute, a non-governmental
organization – with the state legislature’s
permission.
Second was market promotion, so Ceará
set up a partnership with Apex, the ederal
agency in charge o aiding export initiatives.
Te resulting Flora-Brasilis program took
The arching pruning technique bends part of the foliage away from the plant,
leaving shoots with buds straight up. This results in a better microclimate around
the plant. A plastic liner, visible at lower right in the photo, is wrapped around
the trays of cocoanut coir media to collect the draining nutrient solution.
Thousands of roses grow in the greenhouses in Reijers Produção de Rosas.
Jul y/ Au gu st 20 08 TH E GR OWING EDG E 43
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During the last eight years Can-tillo has overseen the company’sgrowth rom 2.5 acres to more than17, employing 120 people. Constantexperimentation has been the trademark at Cearosa, where some plantsare grown in coconut coir, and othersin soil, and more than 50 varieties
have been tested in partnership witha oreign breeder. Te result o all these trials is thatone o the variety’s yield has doubledrom 5.6 roses per square eet 11.2 in ayear. Pests and diseases are now con-trolled biologically. Te introductiono beneficial ungi and mites has cutthe use o pesticides in hal. Now thatproduction has stabilized at a goodlevel, trials continue in a separatearea, where resistance to downy andpowdery mildew is being assessed.
oday’s largest operation in Ibi-apaba is Reijers Produção de Rosas,part o the largest greenhouse rosegrowers in Brazil. Presently with 50 acres odrip-irrigated plastic houses, they export 50percent o their production between Decem-ber and February, mainly to Portugal and theNetherlands.
Heleno Assis, one o the production man-agers at Reijers, explains that “cultivation isall done hydroponically, either in three- orfive-gallon pots filled with coconut coirand topped with palm leaves to keep in the
moisture, each with three or our plants.More recently troughs have been adopted,filled with the same substrate”. Other Ibiapaba arms include Agrifloricul-tura Reijers, cultivating roses exclusively tothe national market under 13 acres o plastic,grown in the soil; and the Swart group, thenewest arrival, also rose-growers with 6.5acres and plans to add another 3 this year. Employing an average o six people per acrewith roses, job creation is definitely one othe best merits o this initiative. People romsuch rural places would typically migrate to
bigger cities in search o jobs, but now theycan make a living in their own communities.Another nice development since the onset othe initiative has been the increased interestin floriculture at local ag colleges, becausenow it is an attainable career. Most managersare rom Ceará, and even small local growerswho want to venture into flower-growing cancount with ecFlores, a training center withhands-on short courses. Te Florabrasilis project, a partnershipbetween the Instituto Agropolos and the
Brazilian Institute o Floriculture (Ibraflor),continues to promote Brazilian flowers over-seas. Presently 39 companies rom eight di-erent states are affiliated, aiming to increaseflower exports. Te program is supported byApex-Brasil.
Mauricio Mathias has managed hydroponic
greenhouses in the US and Mexico. He now
works in Brazil as a horticultural consultant
and free-lance writer to ag media. Readers cancontact him by sending e-mail to mauricio-
Cearosas’s production manager, Julio Cantillo, satisfied
with their roses quality standard.
Roses grow in the tall greenhouse at Cearosa avoids. The building’s he
keeps heat and humidity from building up during the rainy season
44 THE GROWING EDGE July/August 2008 WWW.GROWINGEDGE.COM