Blueberry production in Argentina is not proving to be the “blue gold” growers had hoped for.
According to Miguel Angel Iglesias, an agronomist with Fruticulturasur, sales have proved harder than many newcomers to the business thought and prices have disappointed.
Iglesias, writing on atcitrus.com, said blueberry production initially attracted first-time horticulturists to the area north of Buenos Aires. Producers then found conditions were better for the crop in Concordia before the latest investments were made in Tucumán, both regions renowned for citrus. Iglesias said: “This season profitability has worsened considerably. In part this is because of a tendency to overproduction in Argentina and also because of the global economic recession.
“Tucumán, the earliest production region lost out because of climatic problems that cost the production base half its crop. And when the harvest started in Concordia, despite the decline, producers argued that they could not sell more blueberries because the US market was only taken sea-freighted fruit. Their problem is that 80 per cent of production in Argentina is O’Neal, a variety that can only be sent by air.”
The stark reality for many growers, therefore without a market for their fruit was to leave most of it unharvested.
According to Iglesias, the future for producers of this investment intensive crop in Argentina is therefore uncertain.
