The market for seeds and seedlings of rosewood (Aniba spp.) in the State of Amazonas

Abstract

The rosewood is one of the species with the greatest economic potential in the Brazilian Amazon because its oil is highly valued by the perfumery industry. However, due to exploration the species is threatened of extinction. With the decrease in the resource, oil production has been reduced from 46 to 2 tons/year in the last 20 years, increasing the sale price from USD 40.00 kg−1 to USD 320.00 kg−1 in this same period. This valorization has stimulated the planting of the species, which is faced with limited availability of seedlings for commercialization. Therefore, his research aimed to analyze the seed and seedlings market of rosewood in Amazonas, identifying the number of producers, average annual production and demand, prices practiced, customer profile and production difficulties. Producers were identified through Internet surveys and contacted to elucidate more specific issues in the production chain. We verified that currently, only three entrepreneurs commercialize seedlings of the species with a certain regularity, totaling the average production of 20.000 seedlings/year with sale price between R$ 10.00 and R$ 15.00. This market represents a promising business opportunity, which can be more successful if new production arrangements are established.