Despite the bad mango season there's been, local producers maintain the hope that the rains will normalize and the quality of the last variety being cultivated will increase and, as a result, they will be able to recover some of the losses they've had because of the commercial failure of the early varieties.
Lauro Barron Lopez said the municipality still had to harvest the Keith variety, which is predominant, and that producers expected to recover the losses they had with the Manila, Tommy, Haden and Kent varieties, which continues to be harvested today.
"We think that we could start harvesting the Keith variety in 15 days. It is the last variety and we hope we can recover from a season that has been bad and brought many losses for producers, as early varieties didn't have good prices and much of the fruit was left in the fields," he said.
He stated that the rains were essential to improve the quality of mango, as the current lack of humidity has caused them not to develop and, in those conditions, it would be very hard to market them in packages, as they are mostly bought.
Lopez Barron said the current season had been the worst in the past 7 years, as in the previous season they had been able to market the fruit to the industry.
Another problem they had faced, he mentioned, was the drop in prices, which fell dramatically. There were varieties that were marketed for 40 or 50 cents per kilo, when they are usually sold for 1 peso per kilo.
However, he said, it seems things are improving, as mango prices have slowly recovered and are currently between 1 peso and 1.50 pesos per kg. Producers expect the harvest of the last variety to have prices that reach 2 pesos per kilogram.
"Getting paid 2 pesos per kilo of Keith this season wouldn't be bad because prices were terrible. I think that would help us recover part of what was lost," he said.
He also pointed out that the Keith variety was predominant in the municipality because at least 50 percent of the surface dedicated to mango there was devoted to this variety. Hence, if the rains continue and sizes increase producers will be able to recover a little from the bad season they've had.
Source: noroeste.com.mx