Irrigated Agriculture

Between the urban districts of Juazeiro, in Bahia, and Petrolina, in Pernambuco, the most important centre for irrigated agriculture in North-East Brazil was developed. Vegetables such as tomatoes and fruits such as grapes, melons and mango are cultivated in this area. Part of this produce is exported to Europe. The regions forms part of the so-called Dry Polygon of North-East Brazil, and agriculture could only be made viable there by the use of irrigation. Other important centres for irrigation on the banks of the river São Francisco are also situated in Bahia, in the districts of Santa Maria da Vitória and Bom Jesus da Lapa.

With its source in the Serra da Canastra mountains, in Minas Gerais, the river São Francisco is the longest river entirely contained within Brazil, with a course of 3,161 kilometers. It runs through five states - Minas Gerais, Bahia, Pernambuco, Sergipe and Alagoas. Before it flows into the sea, it irrigates the arid land and brings life to the Sertão (the dry bushland of NE Brazil). It truly works miracles in the North-Eastern states through which it flows.

Along the length of the river São Francisco are situated the hydroelectric installations of Três Marias, Sobradinho, Itaparica, Paulo Afonso and Xingó, which produce 6 million kilowatts of energy. After being held stagnant in the country's largest artificial lake, that of Sobradinho, the "Old Chico" - as Brazilian literature likes to call the river - swerves eastwards and throws itself from a height of 80 metres, forming the waterfall of Paulo Afonso (Bahia). At the mouth, in the region between Piaçabuçu (Alagoas) and Brejo Grande (Sergipe), it remains virgin just as on the morning of the 4th of October 1501, when the navigator Américo Vespuce dropped anchor at the mouth of the river and, due to it being Saint Francis of Borja's day, named it São Francisco (Saint Francis). The river flows out onto a gentle coastline, between coconut palms and mangroves, dunes and beaches.