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

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.

42 THE GROWING EDGE July/August 2008 WWW.GROWINGEDGE.COM

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

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-

mathias@hotmail.com

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

Growing an Industry - GE

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