Next week, producers will begin to embark the first containers of about 1,000 tons of okitsu mandarins to the European market. This is the first variety of the 2018 citrus season.
The harvest began a couple of weeks ago in the central area of the province, between the municipalities of Leandro N. Alem, San Vicente and El Soberbio. According to estimates, the harvest volume could reach up to 7,000 tons. Nearly 1,000 tons of the harvest will be exported and the remaining 6,000 tons will be sent to the domestic market and used to produce juices.
The okitsu variety used to be commercialized almost entirely in the foreign market, but the emergence of new varieties in the northern hemisphere and the high internal cost of the Argentine product relegated the product from Misiones.
A source of work
Now that the harvest is under way, the Packing Plant of the Cooperativa Citricola, located on national route 14 in the municipality of Leandro Alem, is once again incorporating local labor. This Friday, it will incorporate 130 workers, which will join the 20 workers it already hired, to classify and package fruits.
Compared to last year, the plant's temporary staff grew by 30 people. The labor continuity of these workers, which are mostly residents from the locality, depends on climatic conditions, the harvest's rate, and the requirements that the cooperative receives from its clients.
After working with the okitsu variety, they will continue with the clemenules variety, at the end of March; the nova variety in April, the nadorcott variety in May and June, and the murcott variety in July and August.
The president of the citrus cooperative of Alem, engineer Carlos Satur, said the current harvest would be normal, as the plants were not very loaded. "There won't be a super production, but there is plenty of fruit," he said.
Regarding the incorporation of personnel, he said that the cooperative would incorporate 10 workers for its nursery. "We want to respond to the growing demand for seedlings by producers who understand that the activity is sustainable and that want to expand their plantations, as well as for those who want to start new plantations," he stated.
Source: misionesonline.net