Santa Catarina, Brazil starts harvesting dragon fruit

Santa Catarina producers of pitaia enter in 2021 starting the fruit harvest with good prospects. The forecast for the 2020/21 crop is an increase of 30% over the previous year. According to Epagri agronomist Ricardo Martins, in the past season 600 tons of pitaya were harvested in the south of the state, where the Santa Catarina production is concentrated. "The growth of culture in the region is expected due to the transformation of the orchards, which until then were young into adults and the capacity to expand cooperatives," he explains. According to an estimate by Epagri, the area of cultivation of pitaia is about 200ha and is in full expansion. Santa Catarina is already the second largest fruit producer in Brazil. “It is a little accelerated growth that worries us about the flow of fruit and the operational capacity of the cooperatives. On the other hand, it is an opportunity to diversify family farming activities ”, points out the agronomist. The climate should ...