Mendoza recorded losses of nearly 70% in the harvest of plums because the frost during the spring of 2016 affected the plantations in the most productive area, in the southern area of the province, in the town of San Rafael. However, the losses in California, United States, increased the product's value so Mendoza will export about 10,000 tons of plums that it has in stock from the previous season.
As the sector is facing a decline in production due to the effect of frost, "The government has already launched subsidies for the producers that were affected and it created a trust to finance the harvest and drying of the fruits, while the region exports the dried product remaining in stock from the previous season (10,000 tons) to meet international demand," said the Ministry of Agricultural Industry and Technology of Mendoza.
Alfredo Aciar, the undersecretary of Agriculture, said that Mendoza, "is the main producer of dried plum in Argentina, especially in the southern and eastern oasis, where most of the production is concentrated in a covered area of 13,886 hectares and 3,505 hectares respectively."
The frosts last spring devastated 70% of the total production, almost 80% in the south of San Rafael and General Alvear," lamented the official, who is getting ready to meet with provincial and national officials, primary producers, and the export and drying sectors on Wednesday to conform the National Plum board.
The last harvest forecasts prepared by the Institute of Rural Development (IDR) in late 2015 stated that the production would amount to 127,000 tons of fresh plums, and some 40,000 tons by the end of 2016, when the historical average is 160,000 tons.
"Now we expect a harvest of about 25% of what could be considered a normal year, which would amount to nearly 13,000 tons of dried plums, which is a fairly low volume," the producers from Mendoza who are getting ready to start collecting the little fruit left by the frost this year said. Prices are bad but producers expect international prices will rise due to the poor harvest there was in California in 2016.
"Globally, Argentina ranks fourth place among the countries that produce plum for the industry (Chile, USA, France). The country ranks third in the export market, only behind the United States and Chile," the provincial government said.
The province's productive sector will present a goal to the National Plum board based on an action plan supported by three pillars: health, competitiveness, and financing.
Aciar said that the meeting of the National Plum Board would take place in San Rafael, about 230 kilometers from the provincial capital, as the plum for industry sector, which basically dried the product, was all located in Mendoza, and nearly 80% of the it was in the south.
According to official data, Mendoza has more than 300 registered dryers, of different sizes and levels, that are ready to dry a potential 160,000 tons of plums with ovens or with the sun.
Almost everything produced in the country is exported to Brazil and Russia, Argentina's most important markets. The country's main competitors worldwide include Chile, the United States (California), and France.
Aciar said that the sector was currently depressed because of the great loss they had to the frost, but that the National Board would work so that they could surpass this moment and be more competitive in the next season.
As a solution to potential new frost affectations, the official said they were installing arboreal sub irrigation, but he acknowledged that not all producers had access to these technology, as installing it from scratch costs US $ 6,500 per hectare, and installing it if producers have drip irrigation systems costs US $1,500 to US $2,000.
"They are high prices, but not impossible to pay as the provincial government and the National government are willing to invest to add value to the product," he said.
Source - http://www.freshplaza.com
