Scientific research contribution to fruticulture development

Fruit farming has great social and economic importance, as well as food, being an important source of nutrients. According to IBRAF (2013), in the 1989-90 biennium, production was 420 million tons, in 1996 it exceeded 500 million tons and in 2009 it was 728 million tons. In Brazil, fruit production already accounts for 25% of agricultural production. It is one of the most demanding and technology-dependent sectors to achieve success in the business. Therefore, the activities of generation and transfer of technology have been intensified (IBRAF, 2013). Fruit cultivation has great social and economic importance, as well as food, being an important source of nutrients. According to IBRAF (2013), in the 1989-90 biennium, production was 420 million tons, in 1996 it exceeded 500 million tons and in 2009 it was 728 million tons. In Brazil, fruit production already accounts for 25% of agricultural production. It is one of the most demanding and technology-dependent sectors to achieve success in the business. Therefore, the activities of generation and transfer of technology have been intensified (IBRAF, 2013). 

Currently, Brazil counts on thirty poles for the development of fruit growing that extends from Rio Grande do Sul to Rio Grande do Norte and Amazonia, where the production of the whole productive chain of fruit agribusiness (IBRAF, 2013) is developed. The technological innovation in Brazilian fruit growing is a segment of the economy that has most stood out in the last years and continues in full evolution, both in the production of fruits for table, as for industry. To this end, Brazil became the third largest producer of fruit in the world, behind only China and India, with a production of around 40 million tons / year, in an area of 2.5 million hectares (KIST et a l., 2012). Technological innovation has been detected in Brazilian fruit growing, being inserted in all links of the productive chains. However, their profiles are heterogeneous in aspects of technology adopted, forms of implantation, among other factors (IBGE, 2013). 

Temperate fruits, such as apples and peaches, because they are of temperate climate origin, have in Brazil a series of inhospitable factors that need to be improved genetically or adapted by new management techniques, such as seedling formation Through methods of grafting, pruning, breaking dormancy, irrigation, among others, for the success of economic exploitation. Also, the native fruits of tropical climate, such as guava, also needed genetic improvement, creation of new management techniques, such as: formation of seedlings through grafting, pruning and irrigation methods, for successful exploitation (SANTOS, 2012 and PEREIRA & KAVATI, 2011). In order to obtain a better quality of fruits, it is necessary to obtain a better quality fruit in the coloring of the peel and pulp, fruit size, productivity and harvest of several harvests / year. 

Today, with the advancement of research, Brazil produces enough apple for the domestic market and even allows the export of the fruit with excellent quality. Until the 1970, it produced only 10% and with little quality (Faschinello and Nachitigal, 2009). All this was only possible thanks to the technologies generated by the research that reached the producer, enabling successful economic exploitation (BARBOSA et al., 1992). Another example is the production of peach which, according to Ojima et al. (1989) and Raseira et al. (1998), Brazil drastically reduced its importation thanks to research work in the areas of genetic improvement and adaptation of cultivars through agronomic evaluations and the development of new management techniques, such as: seedling formation through grafting , Pruning systems, dormancy breakdown, a technique that allowed the economic exploitation of the majority of temperate fruits in Brazil, irrigation and soil fertility. Thus, currently peaches of excellent quality are produced in the coloring of the bark and pulp, flavor and high productivity. 

In the tropical fruits, such as guava, there was also a great advance in cultivation thanks to research on genetic improvement, adaptation of cultivars through evaluation techniques, formation of seedlings through bud grafting and grafting techniques. Pruning and irrigation that allowed the harvest of several harvests per year and at the moment of market demand, for both table and industry. (SANTOS, 2012 and PEREIRA & KAVATI, 2011). Still, we can highlight results in the use of cultural and phytosanitary practices that allowed the effective control of diseases.

 According to Etzkowits (2003), the technological innovation of a country is based on the relationship between universities, companies and states, being relevant for both developed and emerging economies. For Brazil that is experiencing a transitional period for the creation of a knowledge-based society, this relationship is important for its development. The incentives for Brazilian R & D activities in the last decades have been undergoing significant changes, such as the creation of new research programs in the various areas, notably in agriculture, and in the fruit-growing sector there has been significant development. 

The objective of this work was to evaluate the contribution of technologies generated by the research and published in publications of technical-scientific journals available on the internet in relation to the technologies adopted by the producers in the development of the Campo das Vertentes region of Minas Gerais, Brazil.