A dozen rural communities in the Mayan area of Quintana Roo have found an economic hope in Pitahaya crops, and this year the area devoted to this fruit will reach 800 hectares.
A $4 million pesos investment will allow nearly 100 farmers to join the production of this fruit, which is marketed for up to $3 dollars per unit in foreign countries.
The money is for a technology package of around 21,000 pesos per hectare to cultivate 200 hectares in the communities of San Ramon, Tihosuco and Tepich in the town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto.
The Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development (Sedaru) confirmed that, apart from these 200 hectares, there were currently another 600 hectares in production in locations in the area known as los Chunes.
"We will expand this benefit to the people of Tihosuco and Tepich, which are traditionally engaged in subsistence maize production. We don't want them to put aside their fields, but we do want them to generate income for their families," said Nabil Eljure Terrazas Undersecretary of Rural Development of Sedaru.
In 2014, pitahaya production in that area generated close to $90 million pesos and annual production amounted to nearly 400 tons.
Another option for the economy
Sales are made through a company located in Oxkutzcab, Yucatan, which buys almost one hundred percent of production and then exports it to other countries.
The idea is to seek new markets with better profit margins for the farmers from Quintana Roo. However, this requires considerably increasing the number of tons produced annually.
"The goal is that, by the middle of next month, we have one thousand hectares in that municipality" said Eljure Terrazas.
Pitahayas are used as a backyard crop in almost all of the rural communities in the Mayan area of Quintana Roo.
Source: sipse.com