According to figures released by the country's provincial fruit production secretariat, the 2003 apple crop will increase to 975,000 tonnes, while pear volumes will rise to 450,000t.

However, government discussions on increasing export taxes continue to worry Argentinean producers. Fruit exports are subject to a so-called mid-tier tax of 10 per cent; but as the country struggles to halt inflation in domestic food prices, there are fears that this could be hiked in an effort to discourage supplies from leaving the country in large volumes. Argentina's export industry has thrived since last January's devaluation of the peso.

In other produce news from the country, lemons have been tabled as one of the products likely to benefit from a new export initiative in Argentina. The scheme, worth some peso100 million (£19.3 m), will grant export credit to a number of small and medium-sized agricultural business in exchange for an export-linked investment project. Garantizar, the financial organisation behind the scheme, says it is looking for funds from institutional investors.

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