Video

La Deliciosa farms belong to the Bartusch family and are located in the Rio Negro Valley in the province of Neuquen, Argentina. The homestead has been in the family for three generations (with the fourth generation growing up rapidly). In fact, La Deliciosa has grown steadily over the years and now comprises of 200 ha of cultivated land the majority of which is planted with apples, pears and stone fruit. Recently, some annual crops such as garlic, onion, and pumpkin have also been incorporated to increase bio-diversity.

 The original orchards are located near the town of Centenario, in close proximity to neighbours’ conventional farms.  This proximity proved to be a problem when the Bartusch family took up organic growing. Thus, the family purchased a piece of property near Anelo (60 km out of town), which is located in a wilderness area where there is no danger of contamination. This property was developed as an organic farm from the very beginning and has been planted with a variety of crops. In order to irrigate the farm, a canal had to be built, which was paid for by the family members. This water from the Rio Negro is of prime quality as it flows from glaciers high in the Andes.

 Given the complexity of organic farming and the distance from the farm to the town, a full time manager is in charge of the farm in Anelo. However, most of the Bartusch family members participate in the farming and exporting operations. Ernesto, the father, is the main over-seer of the whole operation while maintaining as much hands-on involvement at farm level as he can. His sons, son-in-law, and daughters are in charge of specialized areas such as export, irrigation, or quality control.

 The whole family is very committed to organic growing and it shows. After having experienced some problems with contaminated fruit, the family decided to build a new packing facility, which is exclusively dedicated to organic fruit. By reinvesting the profits of their farming operation for many years, the family is now one of the largest producers of organic fruit in the Rio Negro Valley.