Country file

Secrets of the Ribeira Valley

It is probably the best kept secret in Brazilian floriculture, that a few
towns in the south end of So Paulo state (SP) have 323 ornamental
growers, encompassing some 800 ha of ornamentals, making it one of
the major flower-growing regions in the state. The low-laying area
where the Ribeira river reaches the Atlantic Ocean has a distinct
microclimate from the rest of the state, with an yearly average temp of
24 C and 85% relative humidity almost an open air greenhouse.
Their association, Aflovar, invited Flower Tech to visit the region and
some of the growers.
By Mauricio C. Mathias,
mauriciomathias@hotmail.com

Washingtoniana pacifica (Fiji fan

palm) grown by at the Sassakis.

he Ribeira region is still

famed for its brand name
tea - a few decades ago
there were up to 46 black-tea
processing plants for exports.
The tea industry is now virtually gone though and many of
the ornamental growers were
tea growers at one time. In
common with some other
flower-producing regions in the
state, many of the growers are
of Japanese ancestry.
Satoru Sassaki switched from
tea to flowers in the early 70s,

and in 1974 together with 10

colleagues founded an anthurium growers association, which
was a forerunner of todays
Aflovar which started in 1992.
Sassaki cultivates indoor and
landscaping plants, predominantly palm trees, on 75 ha
close to Registro.
One of his daughters, Susan,
presided over Aflovar for four
years. Ten of Aflovars 22 members do their own trading at
the Campinas market, although
Susan who runs the commer-

Brazil aware of green benefits

The main town in the Riberia area is Registro and, together with Iguape,
Juqui and Pariquera-A, is one of the main flower producing areas in
the state. While most of the flower regions in the state are at a higher altitude, growing more temperate flowers than tropicals, at only 25 m above
sea level, Registro is known for its hot and muggy weather. The other flower regions are closer to the state capital, although distance is not a major
issue because the region is crossed by one of Brazils main highways, running north to south along the coast. In this way SP is only three hours to
the north and Curitiba is 220 km to the south.
In Brazilian urban settings there is an increased awareness that plants
can create a better environment in the home which is increasing the
demand for ornamentals. Also, several towns are now debating a minimum requirement for green areas around new buildings.

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FlowerTECH 2007, vol. 10/no. 3

cial aspects of the family operation, also sells the family trees
and plants at the Ceagesp in
So Paulo. Susan is now a
director of Aproccamp, a 390member association of flower
growers and traders from all
over the state who do business
at the Campinas market.

Abundance of palms
Brazil has nearly 200 palm tree
species and the Sassakis have
60 different varieties of palm
trees with plans to reach 80.
Top among them are Caryotas,
Phoenix, Podocarpus,
Washingtoniana, Trachycarpus,
Pritchardia, Carpentaria,
Syagrus and Dypsis. Palmtree
growing is a long-term investment that requires patience;
the Queen palm for example
(Roystonea borinquena) takes
10 to 15 years to reach the
commercial stage. The unit
price however, can make it
worthwhile, reaching US$
2,300 when sold for landscaping projects.
A lot of land is needed
because the tress have to be

well spaced out, especially now

that the most recent plots are
mechanised. Also, older fields
are not completely freed up
until the last trees are sold. The
upside is that once the palms
are planted very little work is
required besides weeding and
checking for pests and diseases.
Irrigation is only done in
exceptionally dry years as the
regions average of 1,500 mm is
usually enough.
The target market for these
trees are architects; landscapers;
governmental buyers, usually
for urbanisation projects;
wholesalers and market gardens.
A recent trend in the market
is for exotic and collectors species, not normally found in the
market, so it is necessary to
keep experimenting with new
types. Contrary to popular
belief not every palm tree
requires hot and sunny weather, several species from higher
latitudes dont do so well in
constant heat, while others like
Washingtoniana pacifica (Fiji
fan palm) cant handle the odd

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Country file

Joo Oki, regarded as the largest individual grower of anthuriums in Latin America.

cold front that reaches Registro.

Each has a different behaviour
regarding tillering, fruit bearing, and life span, and specific
demands for type of soil so its
necessary for landscapers to
know how they will perform.
Resistance to transplant and
transport is an essential characteristic to all of them, naturally.

Anthuriums
The nearby town of Iguape is
by the coast, at the mouth of
the Ribeira river where the sea
breeze helps create the right climate for anthuriums. The Oki
family has been growing them
for nearly 30 years, and they
are regarded as the largest individual anthurium grower in
Latin America, cultivating some
5 ha of anthuriums under
shade. Their operation has a
wide assortment of varieties
most of which have been bred
and selected by themselves or
neighbour growers. One
increasingly popular variety is
Eidibel, bred by the Agronomic
Institute of Campinas.
We only sell in the local

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market and as long as we keep

innovating and surprising our
buyers they are satisfied, says
Joo Oki.
Even though there are buyers
for all flower types, the ideal
variety has a tall (at least 50-cm
long), firm, and straight stem
with a spathe around 12 cm in
width, according to Oki. And
since these are characteristics of
the Eidibel anthuriums, they
fetch good prices. Winter-producing varieties are especially
welcome since most types slow
down considerably in this season. Flowers with a bent stem
can fall 50 to 60% in price, but
are used in floral designs. In
spite of anthuriums huge variability in size, shape and colour, the traditional bright red is
the most sought-after type,
although another popular variety is the green Midori, still
rare in SP.
Anthuriums grow slower than
most commercial flower species, so to speed up multiplication Joo recently started to
send material to a lab. He
received 4-cm tall plants, which

will remain for an average of

eight months in a temporary
bed before being transferred to
their definite place. Under the
cultivation screens yield from
the cut anthuriums slowly
increases each year, until levelling off. The plants are economically viable for four years
says Oki, after which he usually

starts a fresh planting because

of diminished vigour. Because
production is so slow the unit
price has to be high, he says.
Because anthuriums keep
growing in height during their
cycle it is necessary to raise the
cultivation beds, which is done
by adding a layer of sawdust
every year, and its extremely
important to maintain the soil
and climate in order to spur
new shoots, adds Oki. Main
pests are caterpillars and the
occasional spider mite or
thrips; important diseases are
antracnose and Xanthomonas.
However, the Okis main challenge has been to find skilled
labour for the more delicate
crop work, so much so that it
can limit their choice of new
varieties, bypassing some of the
most sensitive ones. The company employs 12 people for
the 5 ha nursery but tasks such
as harvesting and packing are
only done by six family members. Harvesting can be particu-

Airview of the Oki farm in Iguape (SP), Brazil.

FlowerTECH 2007, vol. 10/no. 3

23

Country file

Mr. Savordelli is known in the region for taking special care of his anthuriums.

larly tricky since each variety to

be picked at a certain point.
Overhead sprinklers have to
be turned on if it doesnt rain
for more than 15 days while
light is controlled by shading
screens. The screens that have
worked best provide 80 %
shade while the areas with only
70% shade require more frequent watering. In one of the
houses Oki is experimenting
with 1-m wide strips of 50%
shade cloth over the regular
70% type in alternating stripes.
Oki believes they can still
improve on productivity which
differs between varieties from 6
flowers/plant/year to 30 flow-

Savordellis anthurium operation uses carefully

placed and secured shade houses.

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FlowerTECH 2007, vol. 10/no. 3

ers/m2/year for the smaller

flower types. Winters are the
hardest period, when production falls with the cold, but irrigation costs go up since winters
are the driest months in SP.
Our average output is 1,000
dozens per week, but prices
have been stationary for almost
10 years now, fluctuating little
during the year, from around
US$ 2.7 to US$ 3.6/dozen at
retail. The main market is the
Ceagesp in the city of So
Paulo, where the Okis sell
flowers from their own stand.

Shade cloths
The Savordelli family also grow
anthuriums but further inland
in Iguape. Their shade house is
on a hillside with special attention given to the cloth placement. The newer houses have
been built with cement posts,
instead of wooden ones, with
wires connecting them and
forming a grid, over which the
shade cloth is stretched. Each
grower has his own way of
doing it, but the Savordellis are
known in the region for their
special care. Once the shade
cloth is placed we set scaffolds

inside the house and manually

weave it on the wiring, making
sure all the cloth is anchored.
This way we are sure it will be
secure in the wind. Shade
houses have this advantage
over plastic houses, offering little resistance to the strong
winds which can turn and
blow up into the roof. It is well
worth the extra labour as this
shade structure can last as long
as 20 years.
The Savordellis sell their
anthuriums in So Paulo,
bypassing middlemen by delivering directly to flower shops.
We cant grow enough, especially in winters when everyones production goes down.
For example, ours falls from
600 dozens per week to just
200. Our clients request specific varieties and sometimes we
buy from four neighbouring
growers to supply them. With
more than 4 ha under shade,
they are also expanding, and
betting on Eidibel as variety for
the future.

Landscaping
The Mata Encatada farm in
Iguape is one of two production sites for a renowned landscaping firm in So Paulo,
Promoverd. Growing hundreds
of species in their 12 ha, it has
a wide range of plants to fill all
types of projects. A lot of plant
multiplication is done by
themselves, and whenever there
is excess material they sell it at
the Ceagesp.
Their products include species
such as Raphis, Aloe, and
Dypsis, plus a few tropicals
such as orquids and heliconias.
They also sell Queen palms for
around US$ 3,000 part of this
final price being due to the

need for special cranes and

trucks that are needed.

Outlook
Although the Ribeira region
has a unique microclimate for
extensive cultivation, it is relatively isolated geographically.
Its growers are individualistic
and therefore also isolated but
this is a luxury they can no
longer afford in todays competitive world. Susan Sassaki,
with considerable experience, is
trying to unite growers but
mentions their indivualistic
approach as a major hurdle to
further development. Aflovar
has managed to bring the main
growers together, representing a
considerable area and trade
volume, but many of the smaller farms have not joined in.
And while the larger growers
transport and trade their own
plants, smaller operations are
caught in the vicious cycle of
not enough volume to generate
revenue to invest in expansion.
Some have resorted to growing
low-cost crops, which also
bring smaller margins. This
whole dynamic could be
improved by uniting in production coops.
To achieve just that the
Anthurium project is an initiative by Aflovar to standardise
anthuriums production from
variety choice to production
system to marketing. The association would help out with
planning and technical assistance, while exhorting growers
to exchange information
among themselves and unite
production to gain size. n
For more information about
Aflovar visit: www.aflovar.cjb.net

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