The government of Michoacán, through the Ministry of Rural Development and Agri-Food (Sedrua), promotes the production of quality strawberries, such as blueberry, raspberry and blackberry cultivation, through 186 projects of protected agriculture, with an investment of over 40 million pesos.
In Michoacán, we are doing well, said Francisco Huergo Maurin, head of the unit, after reporting that this year the government headed by Silvano Aureoles Conejo encourages the cultivation of strawberries under a controlled environment through macro-tunnels and greenhouses.
The official said that this year it supported 50 projects for the installation of macro-tunnels, as well as 125 projects of belt and quilting crops, 11 projects of shadow mesh, benefiting 186 families of producers in the rural sector.
Huergo Maurin noted that these projects generate a high productive impact on the entity's horticulture/fruit farming, mainly berries such as strawberry, cranberry, blackberry and raspberry, which are channeled to specialized export markets.
Speaking about berries production, the head of the entity's agricultural policy, said that Michoacán is the national leader in strawberry, blackberry, raspberry and blueberry production, because 70 percent of these berries are harvested here.
According to Maurin, Mexico has more than 25 thousand hectares of berry crops. Michoacan is followed by Jalisco, with 12 percent, Baja California (9 percent), and Guanajuato (4 percent).
The berry industry generates between 100 thousand and 160 thousand direct and indirect jobs in the country; in Michoacan it generates more than 48 thousand jobs, more than 3,500 of which are permanent and the remaining being temporary.
In this context, the Sedrua, berry producers, and agricultural entrepreneurs plan to develop schemes and strategic alliances with small producers to diversify crops to boost small production units and promote job creation.
In this regard, Huergo Maurin said that the cultivation of strawberries in the country had a wide and vast potential, and that they were developing comprehensive schemes to increase the growing areas for this product that has a high demand in international markets, especially in Asia.
He also stressed that there were significant advances in the approval of plant health protocols for the entry of berries into China. "Health and food safety are fundamental and of great importance for the Sedrua," he said.
He also said that their plans included land adaptation, seed improvement, as well as infrastructure (technical irrigation, greenhouses, collection centers and cold nets) to expand crops in different regions of the state.
Source: sistemamichoacano.tv