According to the president of the Emiliano Zapata Citrus Growers Union, Javier Ibarra Echartea, citrus growers from the central area of Tamaulipas will be able to export their oranges to the United States, or any other country, after the 400 hectares were they grow this fruit were declared free of fruit flies.
Ibarra Echartea also said each producer will have to decide if they are going to sell their crops at the national or international market.
The advantage, he said, is that they will be able to export to the United States because their gardens were declared free of fruit fly.
He said that the US, like most countries, was very demanding regarding health issues, so the fact that 400 hectares of citrus in Tamaulipas were declared free of the pest was an important achievement.
The area free of fruit fly is mainly located in the municipalities of Padilla, Güemez, Hidalgo and San Carlos, where the average yield per hectare stands at 15 tons of orange.
Ibarra Echartea also said that, each week, between 15 and 20 million sterile flies were released in the citrus area of Padilla, Güémez, and Victoria, to combat the fruit fly plague.
"The goal is to maintain a low prevalence of the plague's populations to endorse the category so that the production sites be declared pest-free areas," he added.
Source: laverdad.com.mx