Click here to read this week’s farm report.
The first half of the week was completely dry, then the precipitation pattern changed, and the farms received low to moderate intensity downpours that managed to accumulate 52mm (2 inches) of rainfall.
High air and soil temperatures were reported this week in our region.
The average minimum temperature reached 24.3° Celsius degrees (75.7°F)
The average air temperature remained stable at 28.6°C (83.4°F)
The soil temperature remained stable reaching 29°C (84.1°F)
Solar radiation was very high during the week.
The relative humidity declined to 87%.
Large fruit (4,5 and 6 count) continued low at 46.9% and 5 count increased to 19.1% of our harvest.
This week the fruit with a harvest age of 21 WAF represented 57.1% of the total and the remaining 42.9% was fruit of 20 WAF.
Crownless fruit volume declined to 11 % of the total packed.
The sugar content of our fruit remained at a very acceptable level. It is very important to mention that the predominance of fruit with a brix between 13.5 and 15.5 reached 81.9% of the sample.
The variability between sample fruit was found below 1 in all farms.
The volume of fruit with psi less than 2.7 was 12.4% of the sample, the average firmness continues to be acceptable. The minimum was 2.6 psi; the average reached 3.2 psi and the maximum was 3.9 psi.
The sugar content of our fruit continues to be stable and identical to the week before.
The average external coloration of the fruit improved slightly.
According to the previous forecast of meteorological experts, the weather this week was more stable than what we experienced weeks ago. This is very favorable for our pineapple operation. The farms made normal progress in all agricultural activities, including soil preparation. For the following weeks in the months of September and October, the second dry period of the year is expected to happen in our Caribbean region. Less rain is also expected which will allow us to complete the soil preparation area scheduled for this year. It is usual that at this time of the year some volume of natural fruit is harvested. However, this week the percentage of natural fruit was significantly high at 17.3%. Despite this, the quality of our fruit continued to be in accordance to our standards.
Supply volumes for week’s 38 arrival are expected to improve compared to previous weeks.
Following up on our second general update on the current “state of pineapple” supply situation, waves of up to 10 feet crashed along Costa Rica’s Pacific Shores on Monday-Wednesday, causing Port Caldera to shut down its operations. Vessels were delayed 3 days to load which will have an impact on week 37 arrival in the West Coast.