Blueberry producers in Concordia are calling for financial assistance so that they can install netting to protect their crops after two hailstorms struck the region in succession earlier this month, resulting in the loss up between 5 and 10 per cent of the 9,500-tonne crop.
Although hail is a rare occurrence in the region, growers claim the investment is vital to safeguard jobs in an industry that is very labour intensive.
“Around 10 people are needed to harvest every hectare so the industry generates a lot of employment locally,” Pedro Chiarello, president of the Association of Producers of the Argentine Mesopotamia told Diario Junio. “Installing nets would reduce the climatic risk to zero.”
According to Chiarello it costs around US$40,000 to cultivate one hectare of blueberries and a further US$12,000 per hectare to install netting.
There are currently 1,042ha planted with blueberries in Concordia, half of the acreage of a few years ago.
