Mango producers in Michoacan started exporting on 18 January with four shipments. "Yesterday another shipment was certified and we are thus starting to work, without suffering any problems to ship our fruit. The fruit is demanded by the United States without any restrictions. Maybe, as soon as we increase the volume or they start to notice that we, mango growers, are also exporting, maybe we will also have some problems, but so far this has not been the case," said Xavier Chávez Contreras, non-governmental representative of Sistema Producto Mango.
The export process started a few days ago with twelve shipments, each carrying four tonnes, which makes a total of 48 tonnes of mangoes. The product is sold for between 15 and 18 pesos (approximately 0.67 to 0.81 Euro). Michoacan producers compete with Oaxaca, which had already started exporting. "Michoacan's advantage is that we have a very long production season, both induced and natural. The list of varieties exported includes the Haden, Ataulfo, Tommy Atkins, Kent and Keitt."
Regarding export shipments, he said that they ranged between 58,000 and 73,000 tonnes in 2016. For this year, they estimate they may be able to reach between 65 and 70 thousand tonnes "but it remains to be seen whether export restrictions will be enforced by the US, because if Donald Trump closes the border, it will have an impact on our work."
The entrepreneur said that the cold weather recorded recently will cause the harvest to be delayed and allow some trees that had not flowered yet to do so, because this fruit also requires cold. "We expect to have fruit production from January to July. We started with the induced harvest and that will be followed by the natural one a little later."
Source: noventagrados.com.mx
