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Greenhouse vegetable production in
Brazil Current status and research needsCurrent status and research needs
Ítalo M. R. Guedes
Research Agronomist
Embrapa Vegetables
» Focus: 100% vegetable crops agribusiness
» Solutions: products, technologies and services
» From seed technology up to marketing
Vegetables in Brazil
Production value US$ 10 billion
Production 19.3 million ton
Total area 2.2 million acres
Yield 8.8 ton / acre
* 2010 ** direct and indirect *** IBGE, 2003
Yield 8.8 ton / acre
Jobs 7.3 million**
Availability 102 kg / inhab. / yr
Average consumption 30 kg / inhab. /yr***
Brazil – continental country
Source: M. A. Lopes
Adoption of different technology levels
Differences in technology adoption are due to regional diversity and growers profile
Management of physical environment
Control of microclimatic conditions
Internal conditions are poorly controlled – why?
Source: Braga, 2000
Management of physical environment
Energy distribution inside greenhouses
Energy distribution varies depending on greenhouse orientation
Disease management
Soil borne pathogens Methyl bromide use alternatives
» Crop rotation: cost or investment?
» Efficient alternatives to methyl bromide
» Soil organic matter management
» Integrated management
Soil and water management
Soil organic matter management Crop rotation
Soil and water management
Soil temperature in warm tropical areas
Influence on plant yiels, nutrition and health
Soil and water management
Inadequate soil management
Chemical degradation Physical degradation
Biological degradation
Soilless cultivation
The buildup of soil-borne problems(salination, diseases,physical degradation)
Photo by Dr. Gilmar Henz
physical degradation)has made somegrowers opt forsoilless cultivation.
Soilless cultivationSource: C. A. Lopes
Warmer tropical areas
High temperatures affect plant nutrition and health
Pythium infectedseedlings
Plant mineral nutrition
Extensive use of fertigation methods
Lack of data on nutrient requirements of modern cultivars
Chemical control of insect pests
» Resistance of arthropod-pests to conventional and biorational
pesticides (toxicological and biomolecular screenings)
» Side-effects of pesticides to beneficial organisms
Source: A. P. Moura
» Side-effects of pesticides to beneficial organisms
» Guidance of pesticides use to control arthropod-pests
Chemical control of insect pestsSource: A. P. Moura
» Re-entry time after pesticides spraying
» Pesticides spraying technology
Chemical control of insect pestsSource: A. P. Moura
» Sorption, degradation, and leaching of pesticides in soils
Crop breeding and adaptation
The focus has been mainly on evaluating the adaptability of cultivars to protected cultivation.
Crop breeding and adaptation
Desired characteristics for tropical protected cultivation
» High yield potential
» Large temperature variations
» High soluble solids contents» High soluble solids contents
» High nutrient and water use efficiency
» Lower light intensities
» Low wind velocity
Mechanization and automation
Brazilian population is concentrating in urban centers
Average income is rising
» Machinery adapted to operations inside greenhouses
» Planting, conduction and harvest
» Fertigation
» Temperature
» Relative humidity
» Is automation a viable solution?
Current projects
Embrapa vegetables has a team of researchers dedicated to protected horticulture
This team has research activities in several projects
» Water and nutrient requirements of melon under protected cultivation in the Cerrado region
» Tomato breeding program for value-addition and increased crop sustainability
» Lettuce breeding: improving crisphead and leaf lettuce lines with heat tolerance and resistance to LMV
» Introduction of a hybrid of determinate-growth tomato for industrial processing in the production chain
» Development of melon cultivars for internal and external market