The president of the Oaxaca's Mango Product System Council, Roberto Nivon Velasquez, said that the producers of San Pedro Tapanatepec, Santo Domingo Zanatepec, Reforma de Pineda, San Francisco Ixhuatán, San Francisco del Mar and Chahuites, had large losses in the current crop due to the lack of rains last year.
He also stated that, even though they had exported 56,400 tons of Tommy, Ataulfo, and Gold mango varieties to the United States, Canada, and Europe, the drought had caused a 40 percent decrease in the production.
Unfortunately, he said, approximately 80 percent of the orchards need the rains because they don't have irrigation systems. "Those orchards, mainly the adult ones, are dying because of climate change."
He also stressed that the drought caused the Texas root rot diseases between March and October, when the temperatures surpassed the 27 degrees Celsius.
As a result, he asked the federal and state governments for support to protect the cultivation of mango, which generates about five thousand direct jobs and highlights Mexico's name worldwide.
Source: elsoldelitsmo.com.mx