Codevasf projects produced 89.3 thousand tons of items in Alagoas

The Boacica, Itiúba and Marituba irrigation projects, maintained in Alagoas by the Companhia de Desenvolvimento dos Vales do São Francisco and Parnaíba (Codevasf), produced, in 2023, around 89.3 thousand tons of agricultural items. Among the crops, the highlights were rice, sugar cane and bananas.

With 1,300 family producers, the irrigated projects recorded a gross production value (VBP) of R$43.4 million, with a cultivated area of ​​4,300 hectares. The data comes from the production balance of the Company’s Irrigation and Operations Area, which also accounted for the mark of 12.3 thousand jobs created – direct, indirect and induced – in the period.

“The gross value of production in the Boacica and Itiúba irrigation projects corresponds to around 6% of the GDP of the municipalities of Igreja Nova and Porto Real do Colégio. An important fact is that in the municipalities where these irrigation projects are located, the rural population is higher than in the urban area, mainly in the municipality of Igreja Nova, that is, with the implementation of these projects the rural exodus was prevented. The populations remained in the countryside, meeting other realities throughout Brazil”, assesses the regional superintendent of Codevasf in Alagoas, Joazinho Pereira.

Total balance of irrigation projects

The production of public irrigation projects maintained by Codevasf along the São Francisco valley reached 4.11 million tons of food in 2023. There was a 4% growth in cultivated areas, which supported 343.2 thousand direct, indirect and induced jobs. During the period, the VBP reached R$5.48 billion, with emphasis on fruit growing.

In total, in 2023, 71.8 thousand tons of food were produced more than in 2022. According to an analysis by Codevasf, the increase in production was well distributed between crops and irrigation projects. The main crops, in terms of VBP, were grapes, mangoes and bananas.

In Codevasf’s balance sheet, the increase in rice production in irrigated projects located in Alagoas and Sergipe, in Baixo São Francisco, stands out.

In Alagoas, the increase in production is due to the increase in the average price of grain. The reopening and operation of the rice processing industry and the entry and encouragement of large purchasing groups in the state also boosted the increase in production. In both Sergipe and Alagoas, the rise in rice prices encouraged producers who used areas for pasture production to migrate to rice farming.

In relation to the area cultivated in Codevasf irrigation projects, in 2023 a growth of 4% was recorded. In total, 120.8 thousand hectares were cultivated, in which 16 thousand producers worked. In relation to the previous year, an increase of 4.1 thousand hectares was recorded.

The increase in VBP was around R$914 million. According to Codevasf analysts, this is a result of the increase in average prices for grape and mango crops. As these crops have a large representation within the public irrigation projects maintained by the Company, the variation in price strongly impacts the total VBP.

Codevasf’s irrigation projects also have livestock and aquaculture activities, which reached production of 14 thousand tons with items such as fish, milk, meat and shrimp. The VBP achieved in this category was R$76.8 million, with emphasis on projects located in western Bahia, Sergipe and Alagoas.

In total, the Company maintains 39 Public Irrigation Projects. There are 29 projects in production implemented and maintained by Codevasf in Minas Gerais, Bahia, Pernambuco, Sergipe and Alagoas, in addition to ten other projects implemented by the São Francisco Hydroelectric Company (Chesf) in the 1990s, where families residing in the area where The lake at the Luiz Gonzaga (PE) hydroelectric plant was formed. These projects are jointly identified as Sistema Itaparica and are located between Pernambuco and Bahia.

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