São Paulo – The largest flower-growing hub in Brazil is located in the interior of the state of São Paulo, in the city of Holambra, 130 kilometres away from the capital. Little by little, however, another region is gaining space when it comes to flowers and ornamental plants: the Ribeira Valley, in the south of the state. There, approximately 40 entrepreneurs from the municipalities of Iguape and Pariquera-açu comprise a group that is willing to produce more and better from now on, with future plans of exporting. With the support of the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae), the group has just released a catalogue featuring 45 different species that they grow. The objective is to use the material for promotion among potential clients.
“Right now, our main concern is with improving the technical quality of our work, and thus produce better,” explains Clayton Negri, a farmer affiliated with the Society of Friends and Farmers of Itimirim (Sampi), from the city of Iguape. According to him, a training program implemented together with the Sebrae’s Ribeira Valley office is teaching trimming techniques, the right time to harvest, and even the best time of day to do it (in the morning).
Advocating the use of the plants that he grows, mostly for decorative purposes, Negri says that in the future, the Arabs may be good clients of varieties such as Heliconia and Spathiphyllum, for instance. “The plants are most appreciated in countries where the vegetation is not so abundant, as is the case with the Middle East,” he claims.
The president of the Association of Ornamental Plant Growers of the Conchal Neighbourhood of Pariquera-açu (APPOC), Valdecir Gomes, also believes that the Arabs may come to be buyers of the species grown at the Ribeira Valley. “We can certainly close interesting deals with importers from those countries,” he explains. According to Gomes, flowers and plants from Pariquera-açu are already sold to foreign countries, but sales are made through intermediaries who buy from local farmers to export. “We need to increase our production and gain space in the domestic market first, so as to reduce the action of intermediaries,” he says.
According to Gomes, ornamental plant farming in the municipality began over 20 years ago, with Anthurium. The association was established in 2006. “We want to grow and help promote the habit of using flowers for decoration,” he says. “In the Netherlands, for instance, it is even possible to buy ornamental flowers at gas stations,” he claims.
According to the manager of the Sebrae’s regional office at Ribeira Valley, Roberto Nunes Pupo, the catalogue of plants grown in the region is going to help farmers encourage consumption for decorative purposes, stimulating sales. “The material includes information for growers and laymen, and will be promoted at events for the sector,” explains Pupo, betting on the success of Cordyline terminalis, Tibouchina granulosa, Bromeliaceae and Aizoaceae in the region.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
