The blueberry harvest began in Los Mochis, in the vicinity of El Fuerte, Sinaloa, and expectations are it will provide jobs for 3,500 labourers. The beginning of the fruit's production, which is basically intended to meet the demand of the markets of the United States and Canada, is carried out in an area of 400 hectares located near the common land of Boca de Arroyo.
The process of packing this succulent fruit is extremely laborious and requires specialized personnel. Picture by Javier Padilla
Yesterday, a delegation of officials from the Ministry of Economy of the State Government, headed by its director, Aaron Rivas Loaiza, and the mayor of El Fuerte, Marco Vinicio Galaviz, toured the facilities of a major agricultural project promoted by the Fe Strong Company in order to ascertain the progress in the development of said project.
The tour
During the tour, which included a visit to the field production areas, the areas where workers who cut the blueberries are and the packaging area, David Jackson, chief executive of the company, said the effort people were making to improve the harvest and to have better results was very exciting for them. He considered this factor was key so they could keep growing, and that they expected to continue to find enthusiastic people who liked to do things well and who wanted to learn new ways of doing things in this area.
Regarding job creation, he said they had grown according to their goals, as they were currently providing jobs for 2,200 workers and expected to employ up to 3,500 people by the end of 2014; a number they hope to increase to 4,000 in 2016.
David Jackson said their growth expectations for the coming years entailed, apart from the blueberry, performing tests with other products such as tangerines and limes, which they expect will yield positive results in the coming years.
He said it was very important for them to achieve exporting blueberries to China this year, just like Jalisco already has, and that they were confident they would be able to do it as they had the support of federal and state authorities. He also stated that this was a very important factor for them to continue growing over the coming years.
Since the harvest is about to enter its hardest stage, the manager asked for support from the authorities to ensure that the workers commute to the company takes place in a dynamic and timely manner.
Source: eldebate.com.mx