A 62-year-old man has been arrested and charged with raping his daughter for more than 30 years and fathering 10 children with her, in a case "even worse" than that of Austria's Josef Fritzl in 2008, a judge has said.

"The accused denied the allegations but DNA tests have confirmed paternity," Judge Virgilio Palud told local radio.

The man has been charged with repeated sexual abuse and incest, crimes which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, he added.

The man, whose identity was not disclosed, was arrested in June for alleged cattle rustling, prompting his daughter, now aged 43, to report him to the police despite his threats of harm if she talked. The case was first reported on Wednesday.

The daughter, whose identity was also not released, claims to have been beaten and raped since the age of 13 at the family's home in the village of Nicanor Molinas, 600km north of Buenos Aires.