The phenomenon of El Niño, which partially damaged garlic crops, affected the last Argentine garlic season. The province of Mendoza, the main producer of garlic, was severely affected by storms. Meanwhile, after six years of drought, the region of San Juan benefited from the rains and was able to regularize crops. "The rains tainted the garlic in some cultures and the conditions were not given to export this garlic to the extent that producers expected. It is a bit hasty to predict what will happen this season, but we hope that the coming harvest is better. We are just beginning the campaign and we need to constantly check the product's quality. Nobody knows if the weather will help or not," said Jose Luis Ginestar, from Agricola Trinidad.
Argentina started planting garlic in early March with no inconveniences so the harvest should end in mid-November. Since the Argentine domestic market does not consume as much garlic as the country produces, most of the garlic harvested in the country is for export. Brazil continues to be the main market for color garlic and Europe is still the leading consumer of white garlic.
"We have no direct competitors; in fact, the main producing countries don't cross their paths. Argentina produces garlic at a time there is no production, then it is followed by Spain and Mexico. The only factor that is affecting us is China's overproduction in recent years. Additionally, we can't compete against their prices. However, we think we can become more competitive with the new government and we can send our shipments to foreign markets with better prices," concluded Ginestar.
