Mayor Raul Onofre Contreras confirmed that the municipality of Matamorros was receiving counsel from researchers because it wants to construct a dehydration plant for melons to support producers by adding value to the fruit and avoid a recurring problem in marketing the product.
Onofre Contreras didn't reveal details about who was giving them support for the project, as they were still working on the idea. All that he said was that a team of professionals had volunteered to assist them and that they expected to meet with them in a month to find out how much investment was needed for the project.
Once they known how much the project will cost, the municipality will search for funding from the National Institute of Social Economy (INAES), which is part of the Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL).
"Our goal is to avoid the marketing problem we have year after year, as well as assuring that melon producers are going to have good profits," he said.
Onofre Contreras added that another alternative was integrating more melon producers with the watermelon producing group that reached a marketing agreement with a transnational supermarkets firm last year.
The mayor said that the dehydrated product would be marketed at national level first, and that they would seek assistance to export it.
Source: elsiglodetorreon.com.mx