According to the last agriculture viewpoint report of Latin America and Caribbean introduced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Argentina is in the 2nd place of the world ranking countries that have certified organic production. Australia is in the 1st place.
In this situation and from a while back, the partners of the Argentinean Blueberry Committee (ABC) bet to make a difference between other parties of the region through organic production of the fruit in the three producer zones of the country. Argentina has 600 hectares with organic certification, 430 in the NOA which represents 33% of the area, 120 in the NEA which is 12% of the zone and 50 in Buenos Aires which is also 12% of it.
Europe and the United States of America are the export destinations, being the organic still a world growing market, due to a higher conscious and healthy diet trend. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) reports, the consumption of organic production in the U.S. increased more than 10% annually over the last 15 years.
The Argentinean organic blueberry highlights its own characteristics, acidulous and sweet taste with lots of benefits for the health such as: improving the cognitive function, prevention of cardiovascular diseases and reduction the bad cholesterol.
Through the Strategic Plan for the Organic Production in Argentina launched in 2010 held by the Ministry of Agroindustry, we jointly worked with the public and private sector, in order to encourage the use of this production system which contributes to environmental preservation and social inclusion and territorial development of local producers.
ABC considers that the price of the organic blueberry in the market is 25% higher than the regular one, due to more controls needed and largest demand of manpower required by the organic production. Argentina has a great potential for organic crop development due to its agro-climatic conditions and also because there are more biological tools for plague control. This product goes with the locally gradual growth of “craft” and sustainable trends, and on account of its practicality, it can adapt to ordinary life maelstrom and it is a healthy snack alternative for all the family.