The situation caused by the drought in citrus cultivation in Corrientes is certainly complex. There's been a significant drop in production that will impact the price of fruit, which is already scarce.
"The plants are very stressed, they are not yielding what they should and that means that we have a very low lemon production," stated the president of the Association of Citrus Growers of Bella Vista, Elsa Rangoni, to Radio Bella Vista. "As a result of plant stress, the fruits have little juice. Producers are harvesting their lemons when they're very green and they sell them like that," she added.
The decline in production is causing prices to rise, impacting consumers' pockets. "People from Tucuman are bringing their product and selling it at a low price, so we have to sell ours at an even lower price," she stated, adding that it is these loads that are supporting the local market.
"The reality is that we need a good amount of rain. The other day was spectacular, but it wasn't enough. Watering the fields isn't the same as having rain. It just isn't enough for the plants."
"People are talking more about the losses than the production, as 70 to 80% of the production was lost," Rangoni stated.
Source: diarioellibertador.com.ar