Performance and sources of growth in tropical and subtropical fruit farming in Brazil

Abstract

This work uses the shift-share method to analyze the performance and sources of growth of 14 fruit crops in Brazil in 1994-2018. The results show that it is not possible to define a pattern of behavior for all crops in the period of analysis. From 1994 to 2018, the total production of these fruits grew 32.75% despite the 12.48% retraction in the cultivated area, which was possible because of yield and better use of local advantages. The analysis by sub-periods (1994-2000, 2000-2006, 2006-2012 and 2012-2018) revealed quite heterogeneous performances, both for the set of crops and for each of them individually. The first subperiod was the only one of simultaneous expansion of production and area with the set of crops. The second subperiod recorded the highest growth in production of the group of fruits analyzed, with significant gains in productivity for several crops. After that, the performance declined, with a fall, in the last subperiod, both in the area and in the production of the set of crops. The need to articulate the various segments of the fruit production chain and between the private and public sectors to explore the potentialities of the internal and external markets is warned.