Harvest of commercialization of the imbu tree fruit for small farmers of Northeast Semi-Arid Region Brazil

Abstract

The imbuzeiro (Spondias tuberosa Arruda) is a native fruit tree of the semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil of great importance for the rural people. The imbuzeiro constitutes, in a source of alternative salary for the farmers and also as a main activity of labor absorption for the rural families at that time of the crop. The objective of this study was to verify the participation of the harvest of the imbu tree fruit in the job absorption and generation farmers income for five communities in the semi-arid area of the State of Bahia in the crops of 2001, 2002 and 2003. They were accompanied 878 farmers that participated in the imbu crop. The results showed that in the crop of 2001, on average, each community 68 farmers participated in the extraction of the imbuzeiro fruit. That activity provided an average income of R$ 328.82 for each farmer. In the crop of 2002, there was a reduction in the percentage of farmers in the imbu crop with an average of 58 farmers involved in this activity, which provided a average income of R$ 334.44 for each farmer. In the crop of 2003, the farmers’ average for community picking imbu fruit was of 48, what means a reduction in the participation of the crop with one of average the incomes lower average in the period analyzed. The findings were that the crop and commercialization of the imbuzeiro fruit are of fundamental importance for the formation of the farmers’ income and for labor absorption in the rural area in the period of the crop.