There is little and in expensive cases. They warn that the price of lettuce is also complicated by the drought / g. nail it down
Lettuce experienced an increase of 400 percent in the last year and although a few days ago it cost about 700 pesos per kilo – a price that still remains in some supermarket chains – in local greengrocers it began to drop, although very unevenly. . In the horticultural sector, they warned that the heat and drought had an impact on the quantity and quality of the crops.
The head of the Association of Horticultural Producers, Pablo Coltrinari, maintained that the extreme temperatures of the summer made the vegetables smaller and burned, as a consequence production dropped.
“In a greenhouse that is 7 meters wide by 50 meters long, about 80 cages are usually produced and now about 40 are being removed,” said the producer.
According to Coltrinari, another of the problems that affected the volumes of vegetables harvested was that many Bolivian horticulturists returned to their country in recent months because the activity stopped being profitable for them. “Those who leave the farms complain about the Argentine economic situation; This is something that is getting worse and worse and we find ourselves with the abandonment of those spaces or that they are unarmed”, said the producer.
Another producer and stall holder from the Regional Market, Héctor Pestrín, maintained that lettuce is a seasonal vegetable that burns when subjected to high heat. “The amount that was planted is the same, but little was produced because it was burned,” he explained.
With a similar argument, he affirmed that there are moments in which the price of certain fruits, such as lemons, skyrockets. “Summer temperatures retract growth and ripening, therefore less is harvested than the rest of the year,” he added.
In any case, Pestrín was of the opinion that the fall in consumption and the lack of money in Argentine families meant that many vegetables did not keep up with the inflation rate of the last year.
The horticulturalists consulted agreed that the high temperatures and the drought greatly affected production volumes.
“With high temperatures it is difficult for lettuce to take hold and thrive because it is a delicate plant,” said producer Salvador Vides, who also clarified that at this time the lettuce cage (between 5 and 6 kilos) is sold in farms at a value that oscillates between 600 and 700 pesos.
It was recommended to consume zucchini and eggplants, with values that are around 100 pesos per kilo.
According to a survey carried out by this newspaper in different greengrocers in the City, the values of lettuce, like that of other mass consumption products such as tomatoes, are very different.
In a grocery store in the San Ponciano area, in the Center, all varieties of lettuce were offered yesterday at 350 pesos per kilo and tomatoes, also skyrocketing these weeks, at 500 pesos per kilo. Around the corner from that business, on Calle 49, a greengrocer indicated that the curly lettuce was at 600 pesos per kilo; the buttery one at 500 and the criolla at 400.
In any case, vegetables are significantly more expensive in some supermarket chains. Capuchin lettuce was promoted yesterday at 689 pesos per kilo; the criolla at 729 pesos, like the buttery and the French. The most expensive, at 799 pesos per kilo, was purple lettuce.
The hydroponics packaged for 220 grams was sold at 279 pesos and the butter for 400 grams, at 499 pesos per kilo.
