Brazil’s citrus belt (São Paulo and Triângulo Mineiro)

Abstract

Brazilian citriculture has undergone changes in technological standards that are even more notable in São Paulo and the Triângulo Mineiro region, the so-called citrus belt, the source of more than 80% of the oranges produced in this country. Despite the fact that this is a single geographical area, there are significant differences between the citriculture from one region to another. For didactic purposes, to aid understanding of the particularities of the regions, in this work the citrus belt has been divided into five producing regions denominated (1) Northwest, (2) North, (3) Center, (4) South, according to their geographical positions within the State of São Paulo, and (5) Castelo, a name derived from its position in relation to the Castelo Branco freeway. Figure 3 shows these regions, also indicating the location of the processing plants.