Blueberries - Baradero, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Baradero County, Province of Buenos Aires
LOCATION	Baradero County, Province of Buenos Aires At 3.5 km from Route 9 (2.2 miles), at 3.7 km from the city of Baradero (2.3 mi) and 140 km from Buenos Aires City .
SIZE	42 Ha. (103,7 acres)
DESCRIPTION	FARM The farm has a perimetral wire fence, with access gate and surveillance, 2.600 m (2.800 yards) of casuarina curtains (Casuarina cunninghamiana) in the perimeter and 1.525 m (1.670 yd.) interior casuarina curtains, of which 850 m (930 yd.) are double and 675 m (738 yd.) are single rows. It is located in a zone of farms, of which most are fruit farms, with very good land and water quality; it has four perimetral transitable roads BUILDINGS Because of the export activity requirements, the farm production follows the quality standards from GAP and GMP from USDA and EUREPGAP from Europe. The entire facilities meet the conditions established by these Standards, and are certified by Davis Fresh Technologies (Now acquired by NSF International). House for the farm manager, 117 m2 (1.260 sq.ft.), with 3 rooms, bathrooms, kitchen, dining room, living room, laundry and veranda. Office building and guest house: 122 m2 (1.310 sq.ft.), with 2 rooms, office, bathroom, kitchen, dining room, living room, and veranda. Shed for tools and working equipment: 255 m2 (2.745 sq.ft.), with concrete floor, which also includes a masonry storeroom for fertilizer and pesticide storage. Outside it has a washing trough and emergency eyewash. Also has interior illumination 525 m2 PACKING PLANT (5.630 sq.ft.) Supplies Storehouse, with concrete floor and access from the exterior. The Packing Plant has an office for the packing foreman. SO2 Treating Chamber: Masonry chamber, refrigerated and with a sulfur dioxide dosifier for fruit treating. Sulfur dioxide storage for 500 kg (10.100 lb.), dosage and injection system, sulfur extraction and collecting by means of a tower with a crosscurrent water washing shower and collecting tank for water with sulfur dioxide. Prepacking chamber: insulating panels made with sheet and expanded polyurethane, and cooling equipment for fruit storage and cooling at 14°C (57,2 ºF), while waiting for packing. Packing Plant: roof built with steel sheet and expanded polyurethane insulating panels. It contains the cooling, classification and packing equipment. In this area, the fruit is classified, automatically weighed and packed for shipping in an environment cooled at 14ºC (57ºF). Classification and Packing Equipment: 9 mm size classifier, line for fruit classification, variable size classifier, two lines for automatic selection and weighing and two lines for packing in 125 g trays (4.4 oz.). The Ponis brand packing line is of Argentinean manufacture, 300 kg/h processing capacity, expandable to 600 kg/h (661 lb/hr and 1.322 lb/hr respectively) Rapid Cooling Tunnel: built with steel sheet, expanded polyurethane insulating panels and refrigeration equipment with forced ventilation, designed to cool the packed fruit to shipping temperature, whether 10°C or 0°C (50ºF or 32ºF). Waiting Chambers: Two chambers built with steel sheet, expanded polyurethane insulating panels and refrigeration equipments, designed to store the packed fruits for shipping at temperatures down to 0°C (32ºF).. Maneuvering Yard: In fact it is another chamber, built with steel sheet, expanded polyurethane insulating panels and refrigeration equipment. It opens to the exterior for fruit handling and shipping. There are refrigerated chambers to store up to 200 fruit pallets. Shipping Ramp: for access of the truck level, with articulated bellows and movable platform for fruit handling and shipping. Dressing and bath rooms for packing crew: dressing rooms and 4 sanitary compartments, 2 showers and 2 lavatories for women and 4 sanitary compartments, 2 showers and 2 lavatories for men. The building has electrical and lighting installations with special lighting fixtures in the Packing Plant, is connected to the emergency generator and has a compressed air system for the packing operation. Facilities for tilling and harvest crew: Dressing-and-bathrooms for women: with 12 sanitary compartments, 4 tiled shower compartments and 7 tiled washrooms. Dressing-and-bathrooms for men: with 10 sanitary compartments, 4 tiled shower compartments and 7 tiled washrooms. Dining room and barbecue: capacity for 72 persons. Kitchen: with countertop portable stoves, sink and industrial refrigerator Sleeping rooms for harvest crews: 6 trailers, with thermal insulation, interior lining, lighting and air conditioning, 12 m x 3m with 12 beds each. (40 ft x 10 ft). Gatehouse: access control. Besides, the entry has an access pool for precautionary disinfection of the entering vehicles. 3 pump houses which contain the irrigation pumps manifolds, fertilizer systems and sulfuric acid injection systems. 2 houses for emergency generators: emergency generators, 120 kva each, and boards of the irrigation and frost control pumps. Perimetral fence: 2.580 m (8.460 ft.) Drinking water system: Three wells with three tanks and towers. Roads, accesses and drainages: Accesses, improved roads and drainage works. INSTALLATIONS FOR DRIP IRRIGATION AND FERTILIZATION Drip irrigation system powered by three submersible pumps and a net of buried piping of almost 100 km (62 mi.) composed by: o 70 m deep well with 20 Hp electric submersible pump for irrigation, ROTOR PUMP brand, for fertigation, outfitted with a fertilizer injection system and pH control and maintenance with sulfuric acid. o 70 m deep well with 20 Hp electric submersible pump for irrigation, ROTOR PUMP brand, for fertigation, outfitted with a fertilizer injection system and pH control and maintenance with sulfuric acid. o 60 m deep well with 15 Hp electric submersible pump for irrigation, ROTOR PUMP brand, for fertigation, outfitted with a fertilizer injection system. o One system of piping and valves, for drip irrigation. It covers 31 Ha (76.6 acres), with double secondary and lateral irrigation piping which extend along the plantation ridges with operations sectorized by lots. It was designed and installed by Amanco. PLANTATION The farm is divided into 19 plantation lots with an area of 36 Ha available to plant (88,9 ac.) and an area of 31 Ha (76,6 ac.) already planted. The plants are arranged at a distance of 1m (3.3 ft.) on ridges located every three meters. The ridges contain organic amends (pine and poplar sawdust, pine bark and perlite) to get a growing medium more suitable for the development of the blueberry roots. All the ridges have a mulch cover to avoid weed growing. In the most recent plantings the mulch is made with an 80 micron black polyethylene film. For the plants older than two years, the poly mulch is replaced with flax straw or soybean straw, which is replaced every two years approximately. “Southern Highbush” early crop varieties: O´Neal 24.040 Blue Cuinex 11.723 Blue Crisp 5.314 Misty 15.431 “Northern Highbush”, late crop varieties: Blue Crop 8.474 Blue Gold 1.968 Berkeley 11.347 Blue Jay 6.468 Sierra 1.492 For the next harvest, a production of 160.000 kg is expected (352.000 lb.) value that is very reasonable, taking into account the age of the plants an the vegetative growing already seen. The Plantation has a complete system for frost detection and protection, a vegetal barrier and meshes for wind protection and a complete mesh covering for hail protection, which guarantee the production. FROST PROTECTION INSTALLATIONS The farm has a protection system by detection and frost protection which consists of a sprinkler irrigation system placed on the ridges of the plantation, operated by electric pumps actuated by diesel generators and integrated by: o A 70 m deep well with a 40 Hp electric submersible pump, ROTOR PUMP brand, to feed the antifreeze protection system by means of a sprinkler irrigation system with the sprinklers placed on the ridges. o A 70 m deep well with electric submersible pump, ROTOR PUMP brand, to feed the antifreeze protection system by means of a sprinkler irrigation system with the sprinklers placed on the ridges. o Well with a 40 Hp submersible electrical pump, ROTOR PUMP brand, to feed the antifreeze protection system by means of a sprinkler irrigation system with the sprinklers placed on the ridges. o System of piping and valves, for antifreeze protection. It covers 30 Ha (74 acres) of the plantation, which extend along the plantation ridges installed 2 m over the plants. It was designed and installed by AMANCO. HAIL AND WIND PROTECTION SYSTEMS: The farm has 2.500 m (2.700 yards) of 5 to 15 years old casuarina curtains and additionally has a cover with poly net HD 95%, mounted 4 meters high on hardwood posts, forming a structure with bracing wires and stretchers which was designed and installed by experts. The coverage is for 30 Ha (74 acres) EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS Fiat Fiorino diesel model 01 Kia 2800 Vehicle with thermal box and shovel 06 mod. Fiat 400 Tractor with three points lift and hs (hydraulic steering). Fiat 400 Tractor with three points lift and hs. Tractor Goldoni 32 hp, double traction with three points lift. Tractor Goldoni 32 hp, double traction with three points lift. Tractor Goldoni 60 hp, double traction with three points lift. Jatco 400 fumigator Trailer carts (3) Hand truck Hand truck with scale Goldoni fumigator Watering cart Ploughs (2) Ridger Goldoni Rotovator Subsoiler Grass mower (2) Harvest equipment (6 gazebos, 200 stands, 2.000 wenco trays, 6 scales) Motor mowers (2) Bee hives (400) Weather central Computers, printer and harvest management software Measuring instruments Displaying refrigerator Equipment for kitchen, dining room and bedrooms Miscellaneous tools. 82.5 Hp with Perkins diesel motor 120 Hp generator with Deutz diesel motor and supplementary tank Medium voltage transformer and electric feeding Mobile telephones and radios Computers (2) and wireless net, printer-fax-copier (1) and wireless net, printer-fax-copier (1), telephonic switchboard and equipment of the offices.
APTITUDE