Banana producers expect the harvest peak will take place between May and June 2017 and, although they expect they will achieve good yields, they are concerned, because the national government has allowed the unrestricted entry of bananas from Paraguay, with the consequent harm this could generate in the sector.
Raul Quintana, the Minister of Industry and Environment for the province, met with fruit producers in Laguna Naineck and said that banana imports from the neighbouring country used to be regulated by the terms of the import licenses, which they could not ignore unilaterally.
According to the official, with the arrival of the new national management, these certificates were released and the entry of Paraguayan bananas was enabled. He also said he did not expect these imports to cause any severe problems in peak season that would alter the market.
Quintana recognized that an alternative, to prevent the producers from being affected, was to enable the provisions of Senasa which state that the fruit from the neighbouring country must be shipped in thermal trucks, and that it must be exclusively destined for the markets in the Midwest, such as Buenos Aires and Cordoba, and not to intermediate markets, where the fruit from Formosa can be marketed.
At the meeting with the producers, Minister Quintana said he expected there would be an excellent production thanks to the technical assistance from the provincial government, the yields of the demonstration plots at the Agricultural Technologies Validation Center (CEDEVA) of Mission Tacaaglé, and the weather, which had permitted producers to end a cycle and start a new one.
The banana cycle begins in August-September. It starts with fertilization, continues with the flowering in January, February, March and April, and ends with a harvest from April to August.
Peak bloom takes place from February to March and the harvest from May to June. A hectare yields 800 to 1,300 twenty four- kilogram boxes. According to the Ministry of Production and Environment, there are a total of 1,450 cultivated hectares; thus, they expect to achieve between 1,700,000 and 2,000,000 boxes, if the weather conditions, i.e. the rains, are good.
Source: lanacion.com.ar