Much of the fruit produced in San Rafael and General Alvear is intended for the industry, while the rest is sent to the fresh market. According to the latest data from the Land Registry and an investigation by Alicia Elena Duek, from the National Water Institute, San Rafael has 4,227 hectares of peaches, 12,000 hectares of plums, 1,130 of pears and 60 of apples for the industry, while General Alvear has 1,343 hectares of peaches, 3,416 of plums, 116 of pears and 12 of apples intended for industrial production. As such, the South is the leading producer of fruit for Mendoza's industry with a total of 5,570 hectares of peach, 15,416 of plum, 1,246 of pears, and 72 of apples.
Compared to the other areas of the country, the difference is more than ample. In peach, the north produces 3,345 hectares and the center produces 3,136. In plum, the difference is abysmal, as the north only has 4,315 hectares and the centre only has 233. In pears, the south also clearly leads as the northern and central part of the country only have 259 and 321 hectares respectively. The only item in which the south is behind is in apples, as the Uco Valley cultivates 654 hectares.
In light of this, Alicia Duek made a report about the raw material for canning fruits in Mendoza in recent years, highlighting the average ton of fruit processed per department in Mendoza.
According to her numbers, in a regular season the local industries produce an average of 101,025 tons of peach, 122,516 tons of plum, 26,451 of pears and 1,401 of apples, so the industrialized production of fruit of Mendoza is approximately 251,393 tons.
These numbers place San Rafael ahead of all the province, as the entire north oasis watered by the Mendoza and Lower Tunuyán rivers produces 135,192 tons of fruit, while the three departments of Valle de Uco (watered by the Upper Tunuyán) barely produce 100,483 tons of fruit.
By far, the department is the main producer of this raw material, followed by General Alvear, which processes about 74 034 tons of fruit in its industries per year, 38,940 of which correspond to plum, 32,098 to peaches, 2,705 to pears, and 291 to apples. Thus the south's average production amounts to 325,427 tons.
Meanwhile, Tunuyan processes 59,132 tons of fruit and San Martin 45.775. Followed by Tupungato, with 34,891 tons, Rivadavia with 23,424, and Santa Rosa with 21,515 tons, among others.
Impact
Despite being the largest producer of fruit for industry in the province, the activity has started to decline in recent years. Big canneries have downsized and are suffering the crisis, others are investing in other parts of the province, despite the cost involved in transporting the raw material.
Undoubtedly, it is a process that must be seriously worked on to maintain this vital work and production tool in the department.
Source: diariosanrafael.com.ar