On May 4, hundreds of hectares of papaya crops in several municipalities in central Veracruz, such as Cotaxtla, were devastated by strong northern winds.
This affected many producers as it caused prices to drop.
Olivia Reyes, from the National Union of Papaya Producers, said: "800 were devastated or affected. This includes those that were chipped or broken by the north winds, they're damaged and can not be sold. Right now we're getting very low prices, of one or two pesos."
Prices fell because the quality of the papayas that were not completely lost was affected by the wind that damaged them.
Veracruz's problems affect other entities indirectly in the national market.
Olivia Reyes, of the National Union of Papaya Producers, said: "The papaya from Veracruz entered the market at very cheap prices, which affects our colleagues in Oaxaca, Michoacan, Colima, and Chiapas. Prices go down, if our fruit has damage, marketers tell us that they buy the one from Veracruz at two pesos, so this problem also affects others."
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) has begun to quantify the damage to this productive sector of Veracruz.
Source: noticieros.televisa.com with information from Victor Medina Piña