Francisco Estrada, president of Apratuc, spoke on LV12 about the losses caused by frost in blueberry production and how it will impact the harvest.

This autumn and winter of 2024 could be positioned as the coldest in the last 60 years and as expected, the frosts of these last months caused problems in the productive sector, among them, that of blueberries.

In this context, LV12 Radio Independence communicated with Francisco estrada, President of Apratuc, who spoke about the frost effect: «It is a sector that largely has anti-frost protectors, which are systems that are installed in the field that protect crops during the occurrence of frost. The crops that are under this system would tell you that they had very minor damage, only in some field places that have more intense frosts and that the system could not hold up to cover such low temperatures, in general all that part and the part where they do not have "That anti-frost coverage, the fruit they had was completely damaged."

Estrada commented that approximately 20% "of the surface of Tucumán" ended up suffering the consequences of the frost on the "exposed fruit."

In this way, he explained that they hope that "the flower buds, which are still closed, which will open soon and which are more tolerant to low temperatures," are the ones that "can produce fruit a little later." », since what was lost cannot be recovered.

What was lost was lost because imagine that plants have a certain number of flowers, fruit reproductive organs that when damaged do not have time to recover. New floral organs and all that first fruit will simply emerge, that is the one that was unfortunately eliminated and is the one that even has the most value.

Regarding the stage of production, he reported that some varieties are already in "the fruit filling stage", that is, "when the fruit is finishing forming so that the harvest will begin in about 15 days." incipient of the first fruits", while other later varieties are in the "flowering" phase, which are those "that can escape the most" from this cold.

Beyond the estimated time for the harvest, he indicated that they must wait for the temperatures of the next few days, because "even though they have the anti-frost system, there is stress due to the cold it causes," that is what will generate a "final verdict." "when the harvests could start."

Regarding how a delay in the harvest would affect the external market, Estrada reported that "they are not so rigid" in the contracts regarding fresh fruit "because these things can happen."

"From that angle there is not too much of a problem, although customers are waiting for the first fruit and if it is not there we basically leave room for other productive areas of the world", Agregó.

Blueberry production: a market that "grows and grows"

The president of Apractuc indicated that there is a greater demand, something that "is very noticeable."

«If you see the evolution of consumption, of production, you will see how it grows and grows every year. In fact, the upward trend is firm, so the markets will continue to demand more and more, so from that angle it is very positive. It is a fruit that has characteristics that are highly appreciated by the consumer and that makes the market ask for a little more every year, more or less the annual growth rate is around 6%, which is a lot., he finished.