First Vanilla flowers at Embrapa Cerrados mark advances in cultivation of Brazilian species

The article highlights the progress of the Brazilian Vanillas project at Embrapa Cerrados, where vanilla plants from various Brazilian regions are being cultivated with the goal of selecting superior genetic material and developing a production system tailored to the Cerrado region. The first plants have begun flowering, with plans to harvest the fruits in about nine months following manual pollination. The research also focuses on identifying and understanding the production processes of different vanilla species, overcoming cultivation challenges, and experimenting with substrates for economical and functional cultivation. An educational video on the production of quality vanilla seedlings is also available from Embrapa Cerrados.

The first vanilla plants in the Embrapa Cerrados collection are in the flowering phase, after being brought from several regions of Brazil, including the Federal District, Goiás, Bahia, Mato Grosso and Pará, as part of the Brazilian Vanillas project. Researcher Fernando Rocha points out that "the first flowers indicate that the material is adapting to the environmental and cultivation conditions". With the flowers, the research team will be able to assess the viability of starting new projects, such as the selection of superior materials for genetic improvement and the development of a production system specific to the Cerrado region. In this first phase, the species Vanilla pompona and Vanilla phaeantha have flowered, while Vanilla ribeiroi is still in the flowering process. Rocha explains that the correct identification of Vanilla ribeiroi, collected in Mato Grosso, was only possible after analyzing the flowers, given that there are two morphologically similar species in the ...