Sources in the banana and pineapple productive sector stated that this sectors have successfully exported more than 6 million dollars so far this year. This would represent a 30% growth in exports over the last year, they said. However, they stated, the main problem that the sector has encountered have been the obstacles from Argentina, which hasn't given them enough permits.
Aldo Fanego, director of the export company Misionero SA, said that there had been a very good production in these areas this year, due to the favorable weather conditions. This allowed them shipping around 28 tons of bananas to Argentina, representing a turnover of at least US $ 6,000 per truck.
Regarding pineapple production, the industry representative said that there had been some problems with the harvest in the north due to recent weather conditions that primarily affected the areas of Concepción and San Pedro, which led to various losses in production. Similarly, there were about 30 shipments of pineapple recorded to Argentina this year, 20 of which could not be performed; leading to a decrease in the export volume.
Currently, there are 5,000 Paraguayan families that depend on the cultivation of bananas, and approximately 1,000 families engaged in cultivating pineapples.
Meanwhile, Miltiades Sosa, manager of the Paraguayan Central Cooperative (CEPACOOP), said that despite having a good production of pineapple, they could only export 50% of the product this year because of the constraints imposed by the neighboring country. The value of each land shipment was US $ 5,000 per truck, and there were about 200 trucks that were not sent, he said.
10,000 hectares
Sosa said there were about 10,000 hectares of bananas in the country and that they would continue working and improving the crop to compete in the international market.
He also said he hoped that the new government in Argentina would facilitate export conditions and that the shipping costs improved because production was very good, and there were families who depended directly on it.
