Brazil Part 1 - Tropical Crops

Oranges, bananas, mangos, rubber trees and tropical grasses are all common in São Paulo state, Brazil.  The countryside is beautifully dotted with tropical fruits, palm trees, sugarcane and cattle.  It is a cornucopia of agriculture and a wonderful place to visit. It feels like a long way from home for me; highs in the summer of 45 ℃ and lows in the winter of 15 ℃ at night.  The land with help can easily produce three crops per year and some regions of south east Brazil will produce four.  It was quite the sight to see sugarcane harvesting being done and the new crop being planted right down the road.  The extensive variety and amount of fruit I’ve seen at the markets makes more sense to me now as so much can be produced within the state let alone the country.  

Collection of rubber

Rubber trees seemed almost familiar to me as the process is similar to maple syrup production in Canada.  The trees are cut, yearly and the rubber runs from the cuts to the waiting bucket hanging from the tree.  A tree can produce approximately 1 kg of rubber per year.  

A field of rubber trees

This vertically integrated orange producer was an interesting stop, they produce new orange trees in their greenhouses, grow oranges of various varieties, sell bagged fruit, juice and machinery to peel oranges which was invented at their farm.  On many occasions I had one of those “this is where my food comes from” moments.  I had never seen anything like some of these processes before.  Seeing how much is done by hand was also an eye opener.  

Harvesting oranges

Banana field

The bananas in Brazil taste so fresh, I became a little obsessed with them but they were so good.  Once I realized that they are grown right there down the road, it became clearer as to why they tasted so different than the ones in Canada.  These plants are about three years old and produce fruit year round.  Once a branch has produced a bunch of bananas, it is cut down and four will grow in its place, the best is kept to produce the next bunch.  

Corn and soybeans are also produced but sugarcane reigns king, not to mention it is great cattle country.  The landscape changes within kilometres of driving down the road and the rolling hills make for some spectacular views.  It is true agricultural land.