Market evolution of garlic (Allium sativum L.) in Argentina (Ex aecquo)

DIAZ, K.E.; GUISOLIS, A.; PERALTA, M.E.; CASTAGNINO A.M.; ROGERS, W.J.; LOZANO, J.F.; MONDINI, S.; LIVEROTTI, O.

Londres

Conferencia; 10th International Conference on AGRICULTURE & HORTICULTURE; 2017

International Society for Horticultural Science Acta Horticulturae

Garlic is one of the most economically, productively and socially important in Argentina, valued for itsnutraceutical, bacteriostatic, fungistatic and antioxidant properties, amongst others. It is commercialized mainly in freshform for both the internal market and exportation, in which Argentina occupies second place (behind China). Exportation isconcentrated into three months, whereas the internal market operates all year, represented by several types of variety in distinctprovinces. With the aim of analyzing garlic market evolution in Argentina based upon the volume received by the Buenos AiresCentral Market, the following aspects were evaluated: total 2002-2016, type of varieties commercializedover the study period (TV) and province of origin commercialized in 2016. From comparative analysis between the first andfinal years of the study, a decrease of 50% was observed (2002: 2902t and 2016: 1466t). The total volume commercialized inthe period was 35313t and the mean annual volume was 2354t, with the following exceeding the mean: 2003: by 35% (a) and2004, 2002 and 2008: by 23% (ab), 2013: by 4% and 2009: by 3%. Garlic for the internal market was produced in nine provinces,with 98.25% of the total commercial volume concentrated in three provinces: San Juan (33%), Mendoza (32.75%) and BuenosAires (32.5%), followed by Río Negro (0.72%), Corrientes (0.5%), Santa Fe (0.32%), Santiago del Estero (0.3%), Jujuy (0.2%)and Tucumán (0.15%). Regarding TV for 2002-2016, 99.44% corresponded to three varieties: Colorado 60.03% (a), Chino36.25% (b) and Blanco 3.16% (c), followed by Rosado 0.45% (c) and Ruso 0.11% (c). The results demonstrate the excessiveconcentration of the offer in just a few provinces. Furthermore, they indicate the institutional necessity to promote increasedvarietal diversification and expand the production and commercialization of the internal market of this highly beneficialproduct for health.