Drought Threatens Orange Harvest

    ASUNCIÓN, PARAGUAY, March 18, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Temperatures in excess of 50° C (122° F) were observed at times in the capital city Asuncion, and particularly in the northern part of the South American country.

While intense heat is not exactly a rarity here, it was the unusually long absence of rain that posed a major challenge to Paraguayan agriculture during this summer season.

"We actually have enough water available, but under these circumstances our irrigation system was simply overwhelmed," said Carsten Pfau, head of Agri Terra Group, which operates Paraguay's third-largest citrus plantations. "Our large trees in particular were suffering, because they always need a lot of water in the summer. Newer plantations with small trees do just fine with a bucket or two of water per tree, but fully-grown citrus plants have a completely different need," explains the German entrepreneur. "The intense drought with very high temperatures meant that basically half of the water evaporated even before it could reach the roots" Pfau continues. "Other farmers found themselves in a very similar situation; we had all been caught on the wrong foot by the long absence of rain." Now, the German businessman gives the all-clear for the situation. "Since late February, we had a lot of rain again, even a few decent thunderstorms, so the situation has cleared up and we are back to normal."

Agri Terra Group has decided to invest in additional irrigation equipment. "Our crops were definitely at risk during the summer. We always experience a lot of rainfall when heading towards autumn, year after year, so we knew that the situation would change soon. We just had to make it until the next big rain, and our team on site handled the situation quite well. Nevertheless, we are very likely to underperform this year, the drought was simply too severe this time," explains Carsten Pfau. "We will improve our irrigation system significantly in order to be much better prepared for next summer," says the Agri Terra managing director.

Normally, a hot summer is a guarantee for particularly tasty oranges; after all, it is the sunlight that creates the sweetness in the fruit. If sufficient irrigation is provided, particularly high temperatures are even a blessing for citrus.

Agri Terra had only recently announced further investments in orange plantations, particularly in view of the new orange juice concentrate plant the company has currently under development near the small town of Nueva Italia. In the future, the company will be able to process 80,000 metric tons of oranges in the new plant, the majority of which it projects to grow on its own plantations. "With annual orange production in decline in Brazil and the US, we see Paraguay as the perfect place to grow oranges and to produce juice concentrate, based on the country's low labor cost and ideal climatic conditions. All circumstances combined suggest solid profits in the future," says Carsten Pfau, confirming the company's strategy. The entrepreneur is optimistic: "One dry summer doesn't really change the basic outlook, that's just part of the game, and good business models usually don't work without a few challenges anyway", a smiling Carsten Pfau concluded.

About Agri Terra

The Agri Terra owners, German brothers Carsten and Michael Pfau, invest and conduct business in Paraguay since 1995. Successful real estate investors, the brothers shifted their focus towards agriculture over the years. Starting out with the purchase of farmland and small cattle investments, the brothers now manage under the Agri Terra umbrella large agro-projects all over Paraguay. The company is among the largest 1% of cattle owners (out of 142,000 total), and it operates the country's third largest orange plantation. Substantial investments in greenhouses (vegetable production for supermarkets) as well as other citrus plantations complete the portfolio. In addition, the group develops residential country clubs and invests in the field of landbanking.

Agri Terra only offers projects to investors if the company invests ist own funds into the project as well. Most of the times, Agri Terra is the single largest investor in a project.

Key executives in the company count with decades of experience in their respective fields of expertise. A combination of experience, expertise and dedication provides a solid base for the company's investments.

Headquartered in Munich, the Agri Terra Group is also registered in Austria, Panama, Paraguay and Hong Kong. In addition, the company counts with representatives for the US and Canada, Switzerland and Romania.

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