Due to the large number of varieties currently available, their different climatic requirements and different climates among producing regions, cauliflower may have seasonal variations in supply and price throughout the year. The objective of this work was to analyze the seasonal variation of supply and prices of cauliflower in the State of Minas Gerais (as indicated by the wholesale terminal market CEASAMINAS-Belo Horizonte), as well as the contribution of the main cauliflower producing regions in the State to the total supply, from 2005 to 2009. The wholesale terminal market CEASAMINAS-Belo Horizonte accounted for 68% of the total yearly commercialization of cauliflower through the different units of the CEASAMINAS system, which varied between 9420 and 10937 metric tons per year. Almost all of the total production originated from within-state municipalities, located in four major producing regions -Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, Campo das Vertentes, The Minas Triangle Region, and the Rio Doce Valley, accounting for 49%, 28%, 9% and 6% of the total yearly supply, respectively. Variation in the seasonal supply clearly reflected the limitations of the currently available cultivars and evidenced the need for new cultivars that could withstand wider temperature ranges during seasonal transitions. In spite of the availability of heat-tolerant cauliflower cultivars, the supply is lower during the summer, a possible consequence of the high rainfall during this season, which can cause losses due to high disease incidence in the field and in the post-harvest period.
Brassica oleracea var. botrytis; seasonal variation; cultivation; supplies; prices
