Fig producers from Michoacan are working to conform the Fig Product System in the entity, informed the Secretary of Rural and Agricultural Food Development (Sedrua), Ruben Medina Niño.
In an interview, the official said that ten municipalities of Michoacan produced fig and that there were more than 70 hectares devoted to this crop. He also said that figs had a wide range of adaptation to climate and soil, and that it could be produced in open fields or greenhouses, as well as in extensive, semi intensive or intensive crops.
He also said the fig tree was deciduous, which indicates that it can grow in temperate or warm climates, and that it entered into production very quickly; in the first year of planting it can yield 20 tons or more per hectare.
In terms of marketing, producers can export their figs to the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. They can achieve good prices, which can surpass the 100 pesos per kilo (i.e. much higher than avocado prices) both for fresh and processed figs, in the domestic and international markets.
Rocio Romero Romero, a producer of figs, said figs could still be considered an incipient crop that the country as whole currently produced less than 100 thousand tons per year. She also said that the United States and Canada demanded more than 60 thousand tons of fresh figs; but that other European and Asian countries also demanded the product.
In addition, the national market also demands this product, for consumption, the fruit industry, and that there was a high demand for it to make derivatives like jams, pasta, fruit in syrup and crystallized, among others products.
Source: Notimex