Season’s First Argentine Cherry Shipment Expected To Soon Reach China

With the harvest of early-season cherries underway in central-western Argentina’s Mendoza province, the country’s 2025/26 cherry export season has now officially started.

Forecasts indicate that cherry production in Río Negro and Neuquén provinces will decline, potentially pushing total export volumes below last season’s 8,000 metric tons. These two provinces account for the majority of Argentina’s cherry exports, but both have been affected by fruit drop in their orchards. While some fruit drop is normal, especially after a bumper harvest, this year it is reported to be unusually severe, with early assessments pointing to climate change as a key factor.

Although winter chill accumulation reached the annual average this year, its quality was poor. Severe temperature fluctuations between May and July likely affected tree physiology, ultimately impacting fruit set and retention. Combined with a warm spring and persistently high temperatures, the harvest season began earlier, but fruit drop was severe. Reports indicate that the fruit drop has affected only yield and not quality, with most batches of cherries remaining in excellent condition.

As early as Sept. 30, a trial cherry orchard in Jujuy province, northwestern Argentina, began harvesting. However, the orchard remains at a small-scale experimental stage and has not yet entered large-scale commercial production. Early-season cherries from Mendoza are currently available on the domestic market, but fruit fly issues mean that they cannot be exported to China.

According to a previous announcement by the Integrated Producers Argentinean Cherries Association, the first shipment of Argentine cherries to China was expected to depart from the Río Negro Valley in late October with an expected arrival in China around Nov. 4.

Image: Pixabay

This article was translated from Chinese. Read the original article.