a2 MISC. PUBLICATION 650, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
vious year. Brazil supplied slightly more than 9 percent of these 
imports. Indications are that the crop has now achieved real eco- 
nomic importance in sections of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, where 
it is reported that Sr. Rene Coulon first planted it at Caxias near Porto 
Alegre in 1890. Pyrethrum was not grown commercially until 
local manufacturers of insect sprays created an active market for it in 
1922. 
Cultivation, which is now centered around the municipalities of 
Taquara, San Antonio, Caxias, Cangusst, Sao Lourenco, and Piratin{, 
is carried on chiefly by subsistence farmers who devote portions of 
their small landholdings to it as a supplementary cash crop. All the 
work involved is accomplished by hand or with hand tools; women and 
children do most of the picking. In 1942, when adult male labor 
received from 5 to 8 cruzeiros (25 to 40 cents) a day, dry pyrethrum 
flowers brought the growers 1 cruzeiro per kilo (about 2.25 cents a 
pound). This price was considered profitable by the farmers, who 
sold their small harvests to local country stores for cash or for trade 
goods advanced by the shopkeepers. Buyers, representing dealers in 
Pérto Alegre and Pelotas, bought up these supplies from the country 
stores for processing in Brazil and for shipment abroad. Export 
values of pyrethrum containing 0.6 to 1.5 percent total pyrethrins 
averaged 7.60 cruzeiros per kilo (about 16 cents per pound) in 1943. 
In Rio Grande do Sul, it is said, plants produce economically for 
from 6 to 10 years. Yields average ‘about 400 kilos per hectare annu- 
ally. Flowermg begins in October and continues until May, but 
yields are particularly heavy during the months of November, Decem- 
ber, and January. A second flush of blooms occurs during the latter 
part of March and early April. Some pyrethrum is also grown around 
Presidente Wenceslau in Sao Paulo. 
Argentina 
Pyrethrum culture in Argentina is gradually increasing, but up to 
1943 less than 500 acres were estimated to have been in production. 
Chief growing centers are in irrigated sections of the Provinces of 
Mendoza and San Juan and to a lesser extent in Catamarca and Salta. 
Yields vary between 600 and 1,200 pounds per acre, with 1,000 pounds 
being approximately the average on irrigated land. Pyrethrin content 
of the best grade flowers is said to be 1.2 to 1.25 percent. Laborers 
make between three and four hand pickings during the bloom season, 
although most of the crop is normally harvested in November. Since 
Ar oentina does not produce sufficient pyrethrum for its own insecticide 
manufacturers, acreages may be expected to increase at least until 
domestic requirements are satisfied. 
Chile 
Pyrethrum was first introduced into Chile by Y ugoslav immigrants 
from the Dalmatian coast. Although their experimental plantings 
10 WinuiaAMs, U. H. THE PYRETHRUM INDUSTRY OF BRAZIL. U.S. Cons. Rpt. 
No. 239, 15 pp. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. May 1943. [Hectographed.] 
11 Stoops, Don. PYRETHRUM PRODUCTION IN ARGENTINA. U.S. Cons. Rpt. 
No. 30, 7 pp. Buenos Aires, Argentina. July 1943. [Hectographed.] 
2 WILSON, JAMES PARKER. CHILEAN PYRETHRUM PRODUCTION. U.S. Cons. 
Rpt. No. 290. 5 pp., illus. Santiago, Chile. Aug. 1943. [Hectographed.] 
= 
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