Rio - An pioneering study just released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in Rio de Janeiro on the production of flowers and ornamental plants in Brazil confirms that this activity already employs, on the average, double the number of workers engaged in agriculture and livestock-raising and predominates on properties with less than 10 hectares.

Based on the 1995-96 Agricultural Census, the study, Characterization of the Brazilian Flower and Ornamental Plant Productive Sector, is the first investigation of its type on a sector which has great export potential and which, according to the IBGE, represents a significant alternative for the generation of jobs and income on small properties.

The study discovered 7,561 properties, leased lands, partnerships, or rural occupancies that, between August, 1995, and July, 1996, earned US$ 108.6 million (R$ 311.12 million), US$ 65.7 million (R$ 188.11 million) of which came from the production of flowers and ornamental plants on a total area of 434,935 hectares.

Of the 2,963 rural establishments in which the production of flowers and ornamental plants was the principal activity, the vast majority (1,941) had less than 10 hectares, and 10,014 of the 21,844 employees of these establishments worked on properties with fewer than 10 hectares of occupied area.

The average number of workers per establishment was 7.4, double the average for Brazilian agriculture as a whole (3.7 workers per establishment).

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Nielmar de Oliveira
Translator: David Silberstein
10/27/2004