Cupuaçu: learn how a crisis influenced commercial planting in the 1980s

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Podcast ‘Where does what I eat come from’ explains the contribution of Japanese immigrants in growing the fruit, which is native to the Amazon. CLICK ABOVE TO LISTEN Cupuaçu is native to Brazil, in the Amazon region. Indigenous peoples have been consuming it for centuries – they even helped spread the cupuassu trees along the banks of the Amazon River. For the riverside people, the fruit was not new either. But it was Japanese immigrants who lived in Pará who were responsible for planting cupuaçu on a large scale in the 1980s. The podcast De onde vem o que eu com talked to Edimundo Watanabe, son of one of the main characters in this story. 🎧 LISTEN (above) and then learn more about cupuaçu: WHERE IT COMES FROM: watch the videos in the series How much does an arroba weigh? Test your knowledge in the beef quiz Help from Japanese immigrants Japanese immigrant Katsutoshi Watanabe (1945-2016) was one of the pioneers in planting cupuaçu in Tomé-Açu (PA). “He had read a book there in Japan that talked about a very fragrant fruit and, as soon as he arrived in Brazil, he started looking for seeds in the backyards of residents. With that, planting evolved”, says his son, Edimundo Watanabe. At the time, the Japanese colony in the municipality was facing a crisis in its main source of income: black pepper. The plantations were devastated in the 1970s by fusariosis, a disease caused by a fungus. As an alternative, farmers began to diversify production: in addition to cupuaçu, they cultivated cocoa, açaí and passion fruit, among other fruits, in an agroforestry system. This type of system combines different plants in the same area: fruit trees, shrubs and others with a shorter cycle, such as sweet potatoes and beans. Today, Cooperativa Mista de Tomé-Açu produces and freezes five thousand tons of fruit pulp per year. Cupuaçu is one of the most consumed. Cupuaçu is a fruit native to the Amazon. Globo Rural ALSO LISTEN:

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