The Rural Development Institute (IDR) has estimated next year's peach harvest. According to the IDR, production is expected to be slightly lower than that the 127,241 tons achieved in the previous year, distributed as follows: According to the data, there will be an important decrease the South oasis, where two thirds of the expected harvest was lost. According to the IDR study, this decrease was probably caused by the spring frosts, though it is important to take into account that the harvest in the South and East have always been smaller than in the Uco Valley, because of the technology used on the crops and the soils. In the Eastern Oasis, the decrease was also significant, while in the Uco Valley the harvest, in terms of volume, is similar to that of the previous year. The yield in the are is 26.4 tons / hectare, against 9 tons / hectare in the South. This shows a total variation of 9.3% for peach. Sizes expected The fruit that has a good size is used by the halved-peaches industry, and has the best price, while the smaller peach is used by the pulp industry. According to this year's crop estimate, only 3% of the fruit will have a size that is smaller than 57.1 mm in diameter. Next year, 34% of the fruit will have that size. Context Mendoza is the only province in the country that produces peaches for industry and positions Argentina as the 4th or 5th world producer. The peaches for industry are the yellow peaches that have a pulp that is suitable for industrialization, but that can also be destined to the fresh market and sold in stores and supermarkets. The industry uses peaches in two products, mainly: to produce halved-peaches and pulps. The big size peaches with no defects are used to produce halved-peaches, while the smaller, slush, or over-ripe peaches (which are paid at a lower price) are used to make pulp. The sector includes almost 1,000 producers throughout the province and about 20 canning or concentrating companies. The harvest takes place between January and the first days of April, and in the lat years the average volumes achieved oscillated around 150,000 tons of fresh fruit. The Uco Valley is the main productive oasis. Source - https://www.freshplaza.com