Mexico: The tamarind of Colima requires a production and marketing strategy

There is currently little information about the production and commercialization of tamarind in Colima, and its potential and perspectives in the national and international markets. As a result, producers don't know what its strengths and weaknesses are. So the sector has been unable to define its problems, and design strategies and actions that contribute to better develop this important activity.

Tamarind cultivation in Colima has stagnated dramatically in recent years. It went from 2,096 hectares planted to 2,021 hectares between 2005 and 2015, registering a negative growth rate (TCMA) of -0.6%. Production dropped from 10,779 tons to 9,247 tons during the same period, displaying a negative growth rate of 1.9%. According to official data from the SIAP, in 2015 the state of Colima continued to rank 2nd place at the national level, after it was recently displaced by the state of Jalisco from the leadership that it had previously maintained for decades.

Even though the tamarind is a profitable product and has many applications, Colima currently does not significantly add value to this product. It only produces, packages, and distributes it for direct consumption.

According to the SIAP (Agricultural Food and Fisheries Information Service), the national production of tamarind grew by 2.3% from 31,195 tons in 2005 to 39,088 tons in 2015. 

During the same period of analysis, the evolution of tamarind production in Colima fell from 10,779 tons in 2005 to only 9,247 tons in 2015, registering a negative growth rate of -1.9%.

The following figures depict the average monthly wholesale price of tamarind in selected wholesale centers operating in Mexico in April 2017. The highest price was detected in the Union of Traders La Paz, Baja California North: 28 $ / kg, the lowest price was located in the market of Abasto of Guadalajara, Jalisco: 14.00 $ / kg. Prices at the Supply Center "India" Tijuana, Baja California, Central Market La Laguna, Torreon, Coah., the Supply Market of San Nicolas de los Garza, NL, the Supply Market of Zacatecas, Zac., and the Distributors Centers of the City of Colima reached 20.00 $/Kg. 

In Colima the fruit is sold by small and medium-sized producers. In most cases these producers don't follow Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) in their harvests or supervise the traceability of the fruit, which prevents it from reaching the final consumer in optimum quality conditions. One of the main problems when exporting tamarind to international markets is that the fruit doesn't comply with the quality standards demanded by these markets.

Marketing is done through intermediaries which leads to producers obtaining low selling price. Small producers end up selling their fruit to intermediaries due to a lack of information, infrastructure or transportation.

It's impossible to export the fruit to international markets due to the presence of the fruit borer and the branch borer pests.

There is no local infrastructure to add value to this fruit. Almost all the fruit is sold in fresh and without undergoing a selection process.

There are no market studies to know the real and potential demand of the national and international markets.

In this context, the challenge for the present State Government administration and the responsible federal authorities (SAGARPA, INIFAP, SE, mainly), is to design a production and marketing strategy so that the tamarind of Colima meets quality standards in the national and international market and they can position it as a healthy product with added value.

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Enrique Álvarez Navarro,