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Piracicaba 25th – We can consider that 2024 has been a very challenging year for carrot farmers. Basically, the first months of this year were marked by low supply – resulting from adverse weather conditions (heat and rain) during planting and harvesting. The restricted supply boosted prices, which averaged R$ 96.20/box of 29 kilograms of “dirty” carrots between January and June 2024 in São Gotardo (a region in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais), a value almost 53% higher than that paid in the same period of 2023 (which was R$ 63.02/box of 29 kilograms).
During the high prices this year, producers felt motivated to increase the winter harvest area – with sowing carried out from mid-March to May, when a 29 kilogram box cost more than R$ 100.00. However, in mid-May, productivity began to rise and reached very high levels. Along with this, the area increases caused an oversupply during this winter period.
The season also featured very atypical weather, with heat waves and little rain, which favored quality and provided a high volume of carrots. Thus, this second semester is being marked by the following scenario: excess product, insufficient demand to absorb all the merchandise, many leftovers (some of which were destined for animal feed), and high discards, meaning that farmers have no other option but to abandon several areas. Current price levels, which reached up to R$ 0.19 per kilogram for producers this month of October (below cost), have left the sector in the red.
Faced with this complicated market, basically, those producers who entered the market and/or increased their areas during the price peak have already reduced their investments for the 2024/25 summer harvest, which should be smaller due to limited cash flow and narrow profitability from the winter harvest. The first areas for the summer harvest should be harvested in mid-November.
Contrasting the extremely favorable climate in the first months of the winter season, there was a resumption of rain in the second half of October. According to Inmet (Brazilian National Institute of Meteorology), the accumulation between the 15th and 29th of October was almost 200 mm in São Gotardo. Furthermore, some root quality problems have already begun to be reported, such as purple shoulder and lenticel – conditions still affected by the high temperatures of September and early October.
Therefore, it is expected that from now on, the return of rain will gradually control the supply of carrots, impacting productivity, delaying the harvest and, thus, helping to revive the root market – and giving the producer a breather.
Source: hfbrasil.org.br
