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

• Google Images http://images.google.com/imghp?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&btnG=Search+Images