Given the continuous climate changes that Argentina has experienced this year, there is increasing speculation about the upcoming fruit campaign. Continuous rains, hailstorms and frost have damaged crops and caused significant losses in the harvest of fruits like cherries or peaches, while also taking a toll on other fruits.
Jose Carlos Bertolotti, of Moño Azul, a producer and exporter of Argentinian fruits, commented on the prospects for the 2017 pear season. "This new season will be similar to that of 2016; maybe, we will record a small increase, although we must not forget that, due to the climatic conditions, this year there was less fruit than in previous ones. Therefore, we believe that instead of a recovery of the volumes, they will be maintained."
Also, the Argentinian pear season is expected to start early and the main concern of the producers is the calibres. "The harvest will kick off at the end of January, while last year we started in mid-February. We are paying close attention to the calibres, since we see that the early varieties will arrive with small to medium calibres. At this time, we need to improve the management of our harvest times to see if we can correct this situation," affirms the representative.
"Prices should remain stable, although the devaluation of the Euro could have an impact on the returns from this market. And given that 80% of our pear production is intended for export, this is something that makes us wary. In any case, we expect demand from the United States and Russia, which are our main markets, to remain stable, without forgetting that we gained access to the Chinese market 2 years ago and we are working on its development. We expect a year without major mishaps, although the last few years have shown us that this can change in the blink of an eye," concluded the spokesperson.
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