The first shipments of Uruguayan citrus to the United States were Satsuma mandarins followed by a seedless, easy to peel variety of clementines with a great taste. The market is already consolidated and the positioning of the Uruguayan fruit is improving.
In the first half of this year, the United States, which usually ranked as the fifth most important destination for Uruguayan citrus, became the fourth one. According to data from Uruguay XXI, Uruguay exported 2,995,383 kilos worth $ 3,990,346, dollars in this period.
The third market was the UK, which garnered 7,111,781 kilos valued at $6,533,604 dollars. The Russian Federation ranked second with a total of 6,755,990 kilos worth U.S. $6,556,708, and the Netherlands ranked first with 9,173,135 kilos worth $7,220,621.
According to Uruguay XXI, Uruguay exported 42,718,931 kilos of citrus worth $38,565,868 to 26 markets in the half of the year.
Challenges
The sector still has much to grow and to optimize production. In this regard, the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INIA), through its Salto Grande Regional, is working to improve the sector's competitiveness and production based on the demands and needs identified by businesses and producers.
Fernando Carrau, Director of the Salto Grande Regional, stated that, for example, the citrus sector uses irrigation systems, "but they are still at a relatively low level. Currently 55% of the national citrus crops have irrigation systems but we aspire to increase that number. Therefore, the INIA is evaluating "the different ways to irrigate -determining how water is distributed- and knowing what are the most opportune time to water the plants."
Carrau said they had to measure the results of watering the plants when they are in their vegetative growth cycle, reproductive cycle or when the production is coming to an end, in pre-harvest.
"We are also working to identify the volumes of water that the plants need and when they require them. It's an approach which seeks to be efficient, effective and improve competitiveness."
Research on citrus, among other things, also includes the development of new varieties and aims to produce what the market is asking for. Preserving the fruits and conducting research to identify the processes that will prevent them from deteriorating during their transport is also important.
Source: entornointeligente.com