The excessive moisture in spring and summer caused by the phenomenon of El Niño is already affecting the fruit and wine production in the south of Mendoza. Producers, who usually are affected by hail and a chronic lack of profitability, are on alert because of this new problem.
Cristian Delpozzi, president of the Rural Society of San Rafael, said, "we have lost a lot of fruit, especially peach, to the Monilia fungus. The damage that the hail caused on the fruit's skin, however small it might be, has given this fungus easier access to the fruit. This has brought many problems for farmers who have been unable to carry out treatments. A lot of peach has been lost over this issue, we estimate losses in the south amount to 15%."
He also stated that it had been a bad year for peaches because there was a lot of poor quality fruit, which was used to make pulp. There were less cans than normal, prices have been very depressed and daily costs continue to increase because of the rising dollar. It'll be very tough to survive until next year. "
He noted that, on average, a kilo of peach for the industry was traded at 3.50 pesos and a kilo of peach for pulp was traded at 2 pesos.
He also said that the grape production, especially of white grapes, had been affected by the Quintal, a disease related to excessive humidity. According to his estimates, grape production had decreased by 30% because of the hail and humidity related diseases.
In addition, he said, the D'agen plums have been damaged, either by the hail or because they cracked. They have some kind of fungus in their wounds and producers haven't been able to apply agrochemicals. We hope the sun of the past few days will stop this fungus from growing." Despite everything, he said, the crops are relatively normal regarding what the IDR (Rural Development Institute) had projected.
Source: unosanrafael.com.ar