to form the Rio Negro. At this juncture is a 

 dam diverting water into the gravity-fed irri- 

 gation system. 



growers tended to concentrate their efforts on 

 apples. Overall production has continued to 

 expand, with new plantings almost all apples. 

 Today, the valley has a substantial potential 

 for increasing apple production in both the 

 short- and long-term outlooks. 



Close spacing of trees like those shown in this apple orchard in Rio 

 Negro Valley is typical of the older plantings of the area. In the 

 new orchards, trees are being planted farther apart- -30x30, 

 which is still close according to United States practices. 



This part of Argentina is a semiarid plateau 

 cut by narrow valleys through which the rivers 

 flow. The Upper Rio Negro Valley is such a 

 valley varying in width fronn 1-1/2 to 8 miles. 

 The cultivated area of the valley extends east 

 and west about 60 miles, from Cinco Saltos in 

 the west to Villa Regina. CipoUetti in Rio 

 Negro Province and Neuquen in Neuquen Prov- 

 ince are the largest towns in the valley. Cipol- 

 letti is the center of the fruit packing industry. 



This area is semiarid with a maximum an- 

 nual rainfall of about 4 inches. Thus it is de- 

 pendent on irrigation. However, water is 

 plentiful. The Rio I_imay is fed by mountain 

 lakes and contains a good head of water 

 throughout the year. It is estimated that 

 present plantations in the valley are using 

 approximately 50 percent of the total avail- 

 able supply of water. 



Too much or too frequent irrigation often 

 cause major problems in the valley. In cer- 

 tain districts, heavy salting of the land has 

 occurred to the detriment of tree growth. 

 This condition has reduced yields in some 

 small sections and even caused abandonment 

 of some land. 



The Rio Negro Valley is an area of inten- 

 sive fruit culture. A part of the valley is de- 

 voted to tomatoes and other vegetable crops 

 and a small section is in pasture. However, 

 the major farming is fruit culture and fruit 

 growers do not grow other crops commer- 

 cially. In the early days, pears led apples 

 (1932-46) but this emphasis has now changed. 

 After a few unprofitable years for pears, 



' H 



Most apple trees in Argentine look like this one; they are not low 

 and spreading as trees in the United States. 



Pears remained at about the same level of 

 production throughout the years because of the 

 lack of interest in expansion or replanting 

 trees. But during the past 2 or 3 years, they 

 have again become a profitable crop and the 

 rate of planting has increased. If this con- 

 tinues, pear production can be expected to 

 trend upward in a few years when these trees 

 come to bearing age. In the meantime, pro- 

 duction levels should be relatively stable. 



TABLE 7. — Rio Negro Valley: Acreage by kind and Province, 1955 and 1956 



Apples 



Pears 



Peaches. . . 



Plums 



Oiinces. . . 

 Cherries . . 

 Nectarines 



Rio „ Total 

 Negro Valley 



Acres 



37,016 



9,662 



2,088 



331 



1,359 



136 



86 



Acres 

 2,669 

 519 

 6i2 

 94 

 25 

 27 

 255 



Acres 



39,685 



10,181 



2,730 



425 



1,384 



163 



341 



Rio ,, Total 



„ Neuquen „ ,, 



Negro Valley 



Acres 



38,955 



9,711 



1,890 



432 



1,408 



173 



166 



Acres 



4,398 



791 



544 



82 



25 



25 



262 



Acres 



43,353 



10,502 



2,434 



514 



1,433 



198 



428 



Growers and shippers of the valley now pre- 

 dict that apple and pear production in the Rio 

 Negro will grow from the present total of about 

 10-15 million boxes to more than 20 million by 

 1961. 



At present in the Rio Negro, 30 percent of 

 the fruit trees are below bearing age and these 

 young trees are about 90-95 percent apples. 



