Argentina: Floods reduce lemon production 20%

"We should be starting the season, but the weather is delaying it. There have been excessive rains throughout all of Tucumán that are affecting the quality and quantity of the fruit," says Miguel Seleme, president of SA Veracruz.

SA Veracruz has 700 hectares dedicated to the production of lemon in the province of Tucumán and exports to over 30 countries worldwide.

"The fruits start to rot if it rains when they are already beginning to ripen so they fall from the trees," said Miguel, adding: "We expected production in 2015 would be 20% to 30% higher than in 2014, but we won't surpass the previous season because of the flooding." 

It is important to recall that production in the 2014 season fell by 60%, when compared to the 2013 season, because of the frosts. 

There were catastrophic floods in some areas of south Tucuman, some towns were evacuated and the fields were devastated. According to the extended forecast for the province the rains will continue intermittently throughout the next fortnight, which could lead to further delays in production and a disruption in quality.

"We will need at least three or four days of continuous sunshine to start harvesting. This delay and drop in production has a major impact on the market, and there's already talk about a 10 to 15% price increase," Miguel said.

In April last year, lemon producers endured a storm that lasted nearly twenty days and greatly affected them. After that experience, shouldn't they have taken preventive action to minimize the effects of the rains?

"While the Government has not taken all the necessary measures to improve the water drainage works, the rains we have had have been the strongest in the last fifty years, so it would have been very difficult to be ready for them," said Miguel.