Argentina: The hail in Concordia damaged the blueberries

21/09/2015

Most of the victims commented that they estimate a damage between 15-25%. This does not mean that, as is often the case in hail, a strip was badly damaged causing the total loss of the crop; while neighboring fields indicate minimal damage.

The fruit that was about to be harvested fell, while that expected to be harvested in 3-5 weeks was damaged. "Therefore, the volumes expected to be exported in the remainder of September and all of October will have to be adjusted. A first estimate indicates an adjustment of around 20%", Explained the expert Betina Ernst of Top Info Marketing.

It should be noted that also towards the end of the season, in the second half of November, an adjustment will have to be made given that the rains in August affected the pollination of the late varieties. This adjustment is estimated to be approximately 7-10%.
It was estimated that the Litoral would have an export of 8.500-9.000 tons. "After this inclement weather the volume is probably closer to 8.000 tons"Ernst acknowledged.

IMPORTANCE OF THE LITTORAL

The provinces Entre Ríos and Corrientes contributed almost half the volume of blueberries exported by Argentina in 2014/15 last year. That is, of the 16.200 tons, 8.000 corresponded to the Coast.
The strong participation of the Litoral was due to some productive problems in Tucumán and Salta (drought, hail). Normally the Litoral contributes between 40-45% to exports and Salta-Tucumán 38-40%.

FORECAST FOR THE 2015 / 16 CAMPAIGN

According to the Argentinean Blueberry Committee, the following exportable volumes are estimated:
BETWEEN RIVERS + CURRENTS ........................... 8.500 - 9.000 tons
Adjust our for hail + rains …………………… 8.000 tons
SALTA + TUCUMAN …………………………………… .. 8.000 tons
BUENOS AIRES + OTHERS …………………………… .. 1.800-2.000 tons
TOTAL EXPORTED ……………………………………. 17.000-18.000 tons

Source: Elagora.com.ar