São Paulo – Saudi Arabia, with its 40 million residents, has a per capita consumption of 120 kilos of vegetables per year, nearly three times higher than Brazil’s. Based on that and the Arab country’s economic capacity, which has the world’s 19th largest gross domestic product, vegetable farmers from Brazil have set their sights on Saudi market of seeds since it opened to Brazil earlier this year.
“A market this size certainly means a lot,” Eloir dos Santos Mello, manager at seed firm Feltrin Sementes and production and export expert at the Brazilian Seed and Seedling Association (ABCSem), told ANBA.
In late March, Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock reported the Saudi market opened to seeds of various species from Brazil, a result of a joint action with Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to the statement released at the time, Saudi Arabia has a growing demand for imported seeds that is driven by a local program for the development of greenhouse vegetable production.
“It’s assumed that the market opened particularly becaise of vegetable seeds,” says Mello. The manager believes that the Saudi demand for greenhouse vegetable seeds is particularly for seeds of tomato, eggplant, cucumber, pepper, and sweet pepper. “In a second state, in the open field, for pumpkin, zucchini, carrot, onion and watermelon seeds,” he says.
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Brazil is a major producer of seeds, over 2 million tonnes being generated every year. “We produce from nearly every species, despite still importing some. We are heavy in pumpkin, zucchini, lettuce, onion, carrot, colander, watermelon, cucumber, sweet pepper, parley, and tomato,” he says.
Exporter of seeds
Brazil is a seed exporter, mostly to South and Central America countries as well as Africa. According to Mello, Brazil stands out in shipments of seeds of pumpkins zucchini, onion, carrot, watermelon, cucumber, sweet pepper, and tomato. The quality of production and investment in genetic improvement makes the Latin American country stand out in exporting, the manager said.
Therefore, the sector sees no trouble in providing suitable seeds to Saudis, despite the arid climate of the Arab country. “Our sector is aways carrying out agricultural tests to identify cultivars that adapt to soil, climate, region, and edaphoclimatic factors, and only after the tests comes the export,” says Mello. He believes the Saudi Arabia’s market opening to Brazil is also due to the professionalization boom of Brazilian companies in the genetic improvement of some species.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda