São Paulo – Dutch company Africa Juice came to seek in Brazil, last month, a little technology for fruit production. The company is going to invest 12 million euros in the cultivation of tropical fruit and production of juice in Ethiopia for later export to Europe and Asia via Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, and Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
Businessmen Jan Bloemen and Harry van Neer, of Africa Juice, were in Brazil in January learning about the work on mangos and passion fruit developed by the Savannah unit of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), in the Federal District. This information was disclosed by a spokesperson for the Embrapa.
According to figures disclosed by the Embrapa, the Dutch company plans to produce 600 hectares of yellow passion fruit and over 600 with mango, papaw and other tropical fruit. The farms will be in Oromia, 650 kilometres away from Djibouti port, which should simplify the shipment of the products to the ports in the Emirates and the Netherlands.
The Dutch businessmen believe that the Brazilian technology may help them reach greater productivity in Ethiopia. Bloemen and Neer tried the Embrapa Purple mangos 141, Alfra Embrapa 142, Lita, Beta and Omega, which are part of a program for genetic improvement developed by the Brazilian research company.
The representatives of Africa Juice also received information about cultivars that are more resistant to pests, about the Embrapa operation abroad and cooperation, and they also visited the germplasm bank.
Brazil is a global leader in agricultural technological research and has been more and more sought by foreign delegations seeking knowledge in this area. Production of tropical fruit, for example, is consumed on the foreign market and also exported.
In January this year, Brazil exported US$ 54 million in fruit, of which US$ 2.7 million in fresh mango. With foreign sales of fruit juice, the country had revenues of US$ 145.8 million in the first month of 2009.
*Translated by Mark Ament
