The All Lemon Tested & Certified for Export group of certified lemon growers in northern Argentina is implementing a specific action plan to avoid frost-affected fruit ending up on the market, according to a press release from the group.
The move comes in response to a frost at dawn on 2 July when the temperature fell to -5oC over a period of four hours or more in certain areas, particularly in Tucumán where 95 per cent of Argentina’s lemons are grown.
To date, approximately 50 per cent of this season’s lemon crop has been harvested, and All Lemon assures that the top-quality export standard (for mainly the European Union, Russia and Asia) will be sustained for the remainder of the deal, even if production volume drops as a result of the frost.
“All Lemon continues to provide target markets with the highest possible guarantees that the fruit for export is of the same renowned quality,” the organisation said.
To minimise the risk of lemons affected by the cold ending up on the market and also to preserve production during the remainder of the season All Lemon is applying a preventive action plan in two areas:
Actions to be taken by each member company include:
• A thorough field revision of the plots to be harvested in order to verify the absence of visible signs of frost on plants.
• A postponement of harvesting on plots (where the presence of fruit damage caused by the frost is detected) until such damage becomes evident in the fruit.
• Systematic fruit sampling before packing to check the existence of items damaged by frost prior to dumping for pre-selection.
• The implementation of a second sampling at the end of each packing line (to re-analyse the rate of fruit damage) if the percentage of fruit damage is high.
• Where the percentage of fruit heavily damaged is still high, companies are recommended to send all fruit for processing.
• The installation of a system to monitor and control fruit damaged by the frost for each set coming from the field and entering the packing line, that will be analysed by the All Lemon technical team.
Actions to be taken by All Lemon inspectors:
• Increase the number of samples to be analysed on each visit.
• In addition to the inspection of finished cases, a statistical sampling system will be applied to inspect fruit sets coming directly from the field at the pre-selection stage.
• Reinforce the advice provided to the 12 member companies to implement preventive controls aimed at detecting fruit damaged by the frost.
According to All Lemon, the temperature usually drops in northern Argentina during July and August in accordance with the Southern Hemisphere’s winter period.
“In the north of Argentina, every winter agronomic frosts occur in planted areas, which in some cases may partially affect lemon production, depending on frost intensity and duration,” the association explained.
The All Lemon group comprises: Argenti Lemon, Citrusvil, Citromax, Expofrut, FGF Trapani, Frutucumán, Ledesma, La Moraleja, Latin Lemon, Moño Azul, Pablo Padilla, San Miguel and Univeg Expofrut Argentina.
