Geovana Pagel
São Paulo – At the same time Saudi Arabia starts showing interests in organic products, the Saudi Agriculture Ministry is collecting all possible information about this kind of agriculture, including production standards and specifications, and norms and regulations for the area, this kind of culture is showing rapid growth in Brazil. Organic agriculture should have revenues of over US$ 350 million this year.
Brazilian producers are seeing the possibility of prospecting the Arab market with great enthusiasm, as they have been observing 50% growth in the sector in recent years, and are searching for new markets for the products.
Processed food
"Our organic production is coming out of the primary phase and entering the next, the processed food phase. We already have 174 certified processing companies operating in the country," explains Maria Cristina Prata Neves, a Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) Agrobiology researcher, in Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro state.
These are sugar mills, juice industries, roasters, and small minimally processed food, candy, and jam agroindustries. There were only 127 in 2001 and this figure has risen to 174 this year.
"Brazilian export is mainly to Germany and Holland. These countries purchase our products, process them, and then sell them to other countries. The United States and Japan are also great importers," says the researcher.
Meat and chicken
Maria Cristina points out that Brazil is already a traditional exporter of food to the Arab countries, mainly beef and chicken. It is now time to begin negotiating the export of organic beef and chicken.
Regarding beef, states the researcher, there is already sufficient production for export. In the case of chicken, production is still only sufficient for the local market, but this may grow.
"It all depends on the market – demands, interest," she explains. "Technology is present. Orange juice, coffee, sugar, soy, palm hearts, fresh fruit, and grapes, for example, are already being exported and have the possibility of enlarging their markets in the Middle East," she completes.
According to Maria Cristina, at least 135 Embrapa researchers are working on making new technology and products for organic production, and forms of culture and livestock management available. This is an effort to reduce production cost, overcome the difficulties and surpass problems that arise, limiting organic production.
Biofach conference
The organic product market, which moves around US$ 25 billion worldwide, says a 2003 estimate by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), was the main topic of the 23rd BioFach conference, which took place in a South American country for the first time at the end of September.
The conference, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, officially released the Organic Cultivation program, which will offer producers special conditions so as to stimulate organic agriculture in the state.
"The event brought together specialists from 14 countries, among them the two largest world buyers of organic products, based in Germany and Holland," said BioFach director Maria Beatriz Costa. She pointed out that the Agrarian Development Ministry participated in the event, and that the ministry is sponsoring initiatives for the increase of organic production in Brazil, mainly through family agriculture.
During the BioFach conference, topics like the Brazilian organic market, its perspectives and difficulties, participative certification, organic meat, a world view on organic marketing, among others, were debated.
"We are very satisfied with participation this year, and already have confirmation that BioFach Amárica Latina will once again take place in Rio de Janeiro on September 8, 9 and 10, 2004," she says.
Regarding the possibility of trade with the Arab market, the project director guarantees that interest is reciprocal. "It is only a matter of establishing the right contacts and planning the market so that demand is not greater than offer," she evaluates.
Natural organic coffee
João Pereira Netto is a natural organic coffee consultant, in Mocóca, in the interior of the state of São Paulo. For over 10 years he has been exporting almost all the production of his Santo Antônio farm to Japan. The harvest is currently between 5,000 and 6,000 sacks of coffee.
"The coffee that we produce is natural organic because we use no kind of fertilizer. We depend only on the soil, which must be well managed and needs rain," explains Netto.
Among the neighboring farms to which Netto offers consultancy, special attention must paid to Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza, whose production of natural organic coffee will be certified in 2004. This means between 1,200 and 1,500 sacks ready for export, possibly to Saudi Arabia.
"Our harvest depends greatly on the climate, but we are greatly interested in establishing new contacts and getting to know other importers interested in our coffee," he guarantees.
Contact
Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza
Phone: (+5519) 3695.4180
E-mail: fazendafortaleza@dglnet.com
