There are plenty of reasons to meet in Tucumán ...

03/05/2017

Argentina has three places where blueberry cultivation takes place. The Northeast sector, NEA, (Entre Ríos, Corrientes and Misiones), the province of Buenos Aires and surroundings, and Tucumán, which is positioned as the second producing zone of blueberries of Argentina, but enjoys the best prices for its fruit in the Northern Hemisphere Market.

The vast majority of the harvest is exported as fresh fruit to the US, the EU, Canada, some destinations in Asia and the protocol for entering the Chinese market is being revised. What is not exportable as fresh fruit by quality standards, is destined to an IQF frozen process.

The export of blueberries as fresh fruit is the one that generates more income of foreign currency for the producer and for the province. The remnant destined to the frozen process is also exported, and is destined for the elaboration of sweets, juices, yogurt and snack.

Domestic consumption is not very developed, because on the one hand the producer does not want to sell to the local market and on the other, the consumer does not demand it so much compared to other more traditional fruit trees.

The cultivation of blueberries began in 1998 in Tucumán. Since then, the fruit has positioned itself in the international market, especially in the markets of the Northern Hemisphere. The activity began experimentally in the fields of Famaillá, and little by little the crop grew and the producers found themselves in the need to know more about the specific tasks involved in the extensive planting of blueberries. Then, they decided to organize themselves to manage the activity in the province. Thus arises the Association of Blueberry Producers of Tucumán, Apratuc, in which producers are grouped to decide, direct and coordinate the Tucuman blueberry business.

There are so many reasons to visit the Tucumán industry, that is why the 28 will be held in June at 8 ° 2017 International Seminar, at the Sheraton Hotel in Tucumán.

We will visit an industry with experience, led by leading organizations, such as Apratuc, and the Association of Blueberry Producers of the Mesopotamia Argentina, Apama, with whom we will analyze the needs of Argentine producers and that involves all Latin Americans.

We will meet to share information and knowledge regarding the quality of the fruit, transport and logistics. We will address phytosanitary aspects and those of the postharvest process, as well as the knowledge and use of new crop protection technologies, among other topics of interest.

We must remember that of the more than one thousand hectares planted with blueberries in Tucumán, almost half have frost control, due to the efforts of private investment and, in some cases, to institutions such as the Productive Development Institute of Tucumán. , IDEP, that granted credits to small producers to have frost control with sprinkler irrigation.

Added to this is the new cargo terminal with a cold chamber with which the international airport of Tucumán Benjamín Matienzo is located, making it possible to collect fruit for three flights on the same day. In addition, work is being done to expand the loading platform.

Although in this aspect we must also stop to reflect, since the great lesson that the 2016 season leaves is that Argentina is not so competitive in costs, because export by air is becoming a luxury, and represents nothing less than 95% of the total sold abroad. Only 3% of exports are moved by sea, although it is expected that this percentage will rise more, due to the urgent need for reconversion facing the sector.

Due to the serious problems of port logistics that Argentina suffers, cargo ships can take around 30 days to reach the port of Miami, when Peru and Chile, still coming from the Pacific, can do it in 15 days, and it is already known that moving the fruit by plane costs more than three times what it takes to do it by sea.

Another issue to address is the labor aspect, because the countries of the region have much lower costs than Argentine producers, so in the 2016 season, although more blueberries were exported, they earned less money than in other years, for the reasons listed above and because Peru has become a direct competitor with much lower costs.

For what we reiterate, there are plenty of reasons to meet in Tucumán ...

Source: Martin Carrillo O. - Blueberries Consulting