The BRS Acarijó 56 cultivar is the first arracacha variety launched by Embrapa for industrial purposes, and the fourth one in the company's portfolio. Unlike preceding varieties – Amarela de Senador Amaral (1998), BRS Rubia 41 (2014) and BRS Catarina 64 (2015) – the BRS Acarijó 56 has large size, erect leaves and large roots, as well as a higher content of soluble solids and consequently better culinary quality, with more intense taste and aroma.

The cultivar offers early harvests and a yield of over 50 t/ha, which is twice the amount of the currently most planted arracacha cultivar in Brazil, and three times the national average of said country. The set of BRS Acarijó 56’s characteristics is interesting for the industry, especially because there has been an increasing demanded to process arracacha as chips, shoestring fries, dehydrated arracacha, pre-cooked arracacha, soups and creams.

Currently, about 5% of the total volume of arracacha produced in Brazil is destined to industry, but it could potentially reach 15%. Every year, arracacha crops occupy an average of 10,000 hectares and are cultivated by approximately 4,500 families. The higher yield of the BRS Acarijó 56 arracacha saves farmland and poses less environmental stress.

Regarding technical-scientific advantages, the cultivar stands out because it is a much bigger and more vigorous plant, which requires bigger spacing (1.0 m x 0.4 m) and therefore a smaller crop stand (25,000 plants per hectare). Compared to other cultivars, which have a crop stand of 41,000 to 48,000 plants per hectare (0.7-0.8m x 0.3m of spacing), the BRS Acarijó cultivar requires 40 to 50% less workforce in the seedling and planting stages.

The cultivar was validated by the Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company of the State of Minas Gerais (Emater-MG) along with Agricultural Research and Rural Extension Company of Santa Catarina (Epagri) and farmers from the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina and Distrito Federal. BRS Acarijó 56 has been registered at the National Cultivar Service (SNC) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply.