The situation of the protected cultivation in Uberlândia-MG is described and the causes that led many producers to lack of success in this system are discussed. A questionnaire was applied to the vegetable producers that produced and those that are producing under protected cultivation, being observed the main information related to the production, from the installation to the commercialization of the cultivated products. We identified that the protected cultivation in Uberlândia began in 1990/1991. Two years later, approximately 84% of the producers had abandoned this activity. The lack of cultivars and adapted hybrids to the region; the scarce information about commercialization and manuring of the soil; the lack of technical attendance to the producer; the beginning of the activity without doing market research; the lack of adapted handling of the protected atmosphere; high cost of the installation; the absence of differentiated prices for products obtained from protected cultivation; the absence of governmental incentive; lack of professional experience of the beginners in this agribusiness; lack of project and economic planning of the production, were the reasons that motivated the farmers to stop the protected cultivation in Uberlândia. This research stand out, also, the need of new information about the handling in the protected cultivation in this city.
horticulture; plasticulture; protected cultivation
