Two northeastern Argentine citrus cooperatives expect to send 30% more fruit this year compared with last season, according to local newspaper El Libertador.

The groups from the Corrientes province -- Cooperativa San Francisco Ltda. de Monte Caseros and Cooperative Exportadora Citrícola de Corrientes de Mocoretá – sent 800,000 cartons of oranges and mandarins from the area in 2009-10, according to the newspaper. Corrientes and Misiones, the neighboring province, are the principal citrus growing areas in Argentina.

Miguel Rosbaco of Cooperativa San Francisco attributed the high hopes to beneficial weather caused by La Niña. “It was very hot, which rather complicated the development of the fruit, but recent rains help a lot, as well as irrigation systems. Therefore, we have good quality fruit,” he is quoted as saying.

Most of the citrus fruit from Corrientes is exported with a seal of origin. The rest is consumed fresh in the internal market or sent for processing into juice, the website said.

The principal markets for citrus from Argentina are Europe and Russia, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Source: www.freshfruitportal.com