Argentina: While we maintain debts with the countries that provide us with banana, what happens to local production?

After claims by banana producers from Bolivia and Paraguay for Argentina's lack of payment for their exports reached the public agenda in recent days - due to the freezing of payments to external suppliers, 12 million dollars are owed to the former. and 9 million to the second -, there are questions about the local production of this fruit. Will the national banana ever be able to supply the internal demand of Argentines? Under what conditions is this production carried out here? Banana is one of the most consumed fruits locally. According to statistics from the Chamber of Bananas and Related Products, annual per capita consumption in Argentina is around 12 kilos. Of that number, approximately 15% is of national origin, produced in Salta, Formosa and Jujuy, and the remaining 85% is imported from countries such as Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Colombia. According to the records of that chamber, in 2022, 23,477,879 boxes were imported for a total of 213,348,560 dollars. In ...