Fruit and Vegetable Production in the Developing World

By: Scott Venner

Past production

• From 1986-1995 production in developing countries increased by 4.11% annually

• In Vietnam vegetables provide about $650 of added value per farm

• South America number 1 exporter of fruits and vegetable for developing countries

• China experiencing greatest growth in fruit and vegetable production

Challenges

• Poor infrastructure

• Lack of food standards and grading

• Importer concerns about food safety

• Absence of cold storage.

Positive effects

• food specialists believe that spicy vegetables can help dissolve fat and reduce its sediment in human tissues.

• Some specialists believe that spicy foods help the human body to be cancer-resistant

• Producers of cotton, sugar and tobacco diversify into fruit and vegetables, maintaining better soil quality

Future production

• As Global Warming continues and the atmosphere continues to have a greater amount of CO2 in the air oranges will experience greater growth with higher levels of vitamin C

• Future Vegetable production will depend on improving people's standard of living

• China wants to develop or to introduce spicy vegetables

Summary

• Fruit and vegetable production has increased dramatically since the 1980’s

• This industry provides many jobs in countries with already high unemployment

• Fruit and vegetable consumption has increased greatly resulting in less micro nutrient deficiencies

• Challenges are slow to be worked out but they are being fixed as needed.

• This industry looks like an economically viable industry for the future in these countries

References• Science Direct, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

Volume 90, Issue 1, June 2002, Pages 1-7 Published by Elsevier Science B.V http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T3Y-4606S0V-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=82fcef3b06bf9a8abe9afec4860fa037

• Andrea Segrè GLOBAL HORTICULTURAL IMPACT: FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, June 1998 Rome Italy http://www.agrsci.unibo.it/wchr/wc1/segre.html

• M . VAN DUYN, Overview of the Health Benefits of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption for the Dietetics Professional Selected Literature Journal of the American Dietetic Association , Volume 100 , Issue 12 , Pages 1511 - 1521

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S000282230000420X

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