Mexico is one of the main mango producing countries, both for export and for the domestic market.
The mango harvest is already underway in several municipalities on the Jalisco Coast, of which this product generates an important economic benefit. This necessitates the activation of the collection centers and export packing plants to coordinate with the foreign market.
To illustrate the importance of the Jalisco mango, the head of the Jalisco State Plant Health Committee, David del Toro, said that just in the agricultural area of Campo Acosta, in the municipality of Tomatlán, 2,600 hectares of mango production brought millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs to the area, taking into account the sale of the fruit box at 85 pesos, half of the fruit going to the export market.
In this regard, the leader of the Mango Jalisco Product System, Jorge Sánchez, said that this season there is again an optimistic position for the marketing of mango, despite the uncertainty brought about by the drought of recent months, which already reflects declines in the production of ripe fruit.
The executive explained that the five export collection centers in the region are about to operate in the municipalities that concentrate the exportable supply, such as Tomatlán and Cihuatlán, in addition to the collection centers for the national market. The Agricultural and Fisheries Information System reported that at the end of 2020 in Jalisco there were 7,769 hectares of mangoes producing 110,000 tons of the fruit. Tomatlán has most of the plantations with 4,426 hectares, Cihuatlán has 1,266 hectares, and La Huerta has 916 hectares.
In addition to the spill for the benefit of farmers and packers, the mango impacts the jobs generated in the fruit collection and treatment centers, as well as the cutting crews.
Sánchez also stressed the effect of the dryness of the environment in recent months, which has brought some uncertainty about what the harvest will be this season. He explained that although there was a very abundant flowering period in the trees of the mango orchards, some of this fruit is falling as a response of the plants to the drought.
David del Toro highlighted that among the current phytosanitary campaigns on the Jalisco Coast, the one focused on the Mediterranean fly (of which there is an outbreak in Colima,) is a priority to prevent negative effects on various tropical fruits and even on temperate fruits, such as avocado.
As a result of such actions, he said that in the past export cycle, no batch of fruit was rejected at the export borders.