This mango season can be considered to be bad, said the president of the Association of Farmers of the Cañas River (AARC), Jesus Roberto Inda Ramos. According to him, the forecasts for this season were good, as there was abundant flowering in the trees, but unfortunately everything changed drastically, and all hopes of a good production have disappeared for most.
Bleak prospects
Inda Ramos said that at the end of May, when they started cutting the Ataulfo varieties, there were very good prices, of up to six pesos a kilo, but that prices then started falling. In addition, he said, the lack of rainfall in the south of the state caused many trees to abort the fruit, including the Keitt variety, with some trees aborting about 70 percent of the production. Furthermore, the product did not reach its size because of the drought.
"In southern Sinaloa, due to the drought, the early mangoes don't have a good quality, they are starting to dehydrate in the trees and unfortunately there are no volumes that can be exported to the American market, which is our biggest buyers."
The lack of size, said Inda Ramos, puts the southern mango at a disadvantage with regard to those of northern Sinaloa, such as Los Mochis, which have already begun their production and have the quality required for export, mainly to the USA.
He said that prices for the Tommy, Kent and Haden varieties in Escuinapa had fallen, as the Kent variety currently stands at around 1.50 and up to two pesos a kilo.
Jesus Roberto also said that the mango producers expected the normal rains would start by the end of June, but that they hadn't. He stressed the initial expectations were that Rosario and Escuinapa would produce 200 thousand tons, but that they would only produce 90 thousand to 100 thousand tons.
Producer place their hopes on the Santa Maria dam
The president of the AARC stated that they hoped the construction of the Santa Maria dam, which will provide water for human consumption and agriculture all over that area, will improve the dwindling production. Unfortunately, it seems that the construction company wants to leave off the work because of a lack of support from the government. Finally, he asked the state and federal authorities, as well as the President of the Republic, Enrique Peña, to support this dam and to go ahead with it, as producers are placing their hopes on it to improve their crops.
Source: debate.com.mx