Calvillo is said to produce the sweetest guava in Mexico, which is enjoyed both in Mexico and in the United States, as 30% of the local production is exported there. The guava produced in the orchards of this town, which is known as the world capital of this fruit because of the quality of their product -not the volume-, can be eaten fresh, in slices, juices, fresh water, cakes, jams, and liquors, among many other ways.
Producers Roberto Hernandez and Refugio Torres said many other states produced guava, but that the guava harvested in the region had the highest levels of sugar in the country because of the soil conditions in the area and because of the care, anti-hail nets, irrigation, and fertilizers used by producers in their production.
Hernandez said: "Our hard work and effort has allowed us to be known as the world capital of guava because we produce the best fruit with the best smell, taste, color and size. Thus, if the guava is good, people know it is from Calvillo."
Meanwhile, Torres said the guava tree was so noble that it could produce throughout the whole year for at least a century, but that it was the quality of their soil, which is known as tepetate in Mexico, what allowed them to produce the best fruit in the country.
In turn, the president of the Association of Producers of Guava in Aguascalientes, Miguel Martinez Rubio, said that Calvillo produced about 110,000 tons of guava per year in five areas of 1,800 hectares.
He said there were approximately 2,100 producers of guava in Calvillo that worked to meet all the quality standards to be able to export, mainly to the United States, and to provide the domestic industry of juices and concentrates, as well as artisan workshops of sweets.
He also clarified that Calvillo was not the primary producer of guava in Mexico, because Michoacan produced higher volumes, but that they were the biggest exporter of this fruit as they sent 30% of the local production to the United States.
"30% of our production is for export, another 30% is for the juice industry, and the rest is sold fresh in many states," he said.
He added that the producers of guava from Calvillo also supplied home-based factories that produced sweet guava in the state and in many regions of the country.
Regarding the production process, he said people thought guava was a seasonal fruit, but that that wasn't the case, as it could be produced throughout the whole year. However, he said, "we only produce it between August and April because of the cost of extracting water, but there can always be guava production."
He said that, to reach the US market, producers had to comply with a series of requirements, such as having a certified orchard, traceability, good farming practices, and management of agrochemicals, among other things.
"Producing guava isn't very difficult, but when you want to export to foreign markets you should take care of the crop through modernization or applying measures to control the frost. It all depends where you want to send the fruit," he said.
He also stated that Calvillo shipped out all of the country's guava to the United States. "We package all of the guava produced in the country here, not only our production but also the production from Michoacan, Zacatecas, and other places that bring it here so it can be shipped to the neighboring country," he said.
Source: economiahoy.mx