The provincial executive echoed the warnings of the citrus industry on a drastic reduction in this year's lime production as a result of the frost and drought in 2013. The governor, José Alperovich, met yesterday with the leaders of the Tucuman Citrus Association (ATC) and, according to the head of the entity, Roberto Sánchez Loria, there's an official commitment to declare the State of Emergency for this activity.
Roberto said that the technical bodies of the province were able to confirm that, as a result of last year's frosts, there will be a decrease in the production volume of about 50% when compared to 2013. He explained that the climate factor had affected flowering, which determines the amount of lime produced by the plants. He also said the drought had had a negative impact on the crops, preventing them from recovering rapidly.
"We're talking about a 700,000 tonnes decrease in the production volume compared to last year's 1.3 million tonnes," he explained.
According to Sánchez Loria, the declaration of Emergency would alleviate the sector's situation "by giving us some considerations on tax matters", and facilitating the negotiations with the Nation so that producers are promptly given their tax refunds.
Due to the decline in production, the lime harvest period will be shorter and there will be an impact on the workforce. "We will have to negotiate some kind of help or inter-zafra plan for the workers with the national government because there will be fewer working hours," he said.
Regarding exports, Sánchez Loria said they would try to meet international commitments as far as they could, because this was a situation of force majeure.
Source: lagaceta.com.ar