The largest national apple producer, Santa Catarina expects a crop with fruits of excellent quality and flavor. The official opening of the harvest took place last Friday, 10th, in Fraiburgo, and was attended by the Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, Valdir Colatto, who also represented Governor Jorginho Mello at the event.
Santa Catarina expects a harvest of 570.800 tons , more than half of everything produced in the country, in 15.300 planted hectares. According to the executive director of the Brazilian Association of Apple Producers ( ABPM ), Moisés Lopes de Albuquerque, this year producers will recover historical levels of production and the climate contributed to a differentiated harvest.
In gross production values, apples account for around 50% of fruit production in the state, a total of R$ 570 million. For storage, distribution and commercialization in wholesale and retail markets, other services are involved, which expand the contribution of the apple production and commercialization chain to more than R$ 2.5 billion per year in the economy of Santa Catarina.
Source: abrafrutas.org