Once again, Tamaulipas ranks first in the national production of lemon. The state has over 4,700 hectares devoted to the production of lemons that are located mainly in the central part of the state; in the municipalities of Llera, Güémez, Padilla, Hidalgo and Victoria.
The Director of Marketing of the Ministry of Rural Development (SDR), Jorge Felix Bastidas, stated that, by the end of the harvest in December 2014, production was just over 81,000 tons. This citrus is mainly grown for export, since it has virtually no demand from the consumers in Mexico and the industry's demand is very low.
It is important to note that there has been an increase in the export rates of citrus from Tamaulipas, specifically of the fresh fruit packed in boxes, to the United States and Canada because the product has an excellent quality.
Felix Bastidas said that part of the production was sold as fresh fruit and the other part was sold to the juice industry, which can process the fruit to make different products, such as fresh or concentrated juice, essential oils, aromas , d-limonene, washed peel, and others.
He noted that the economic benefit generated by this trade process strengthens the generation of employment in Tamaulipas, as well as the modernization of the agricultural practices and the added value services required for the certification demanded by the food industry.