Due to its high quality, the southern grenade of Jalisco made its way for the second consecutive year in the US market with the export of 120 tons of the wonderful variety, this season.
"This is the production that we hope to send this year, especially during the harvesting season that began in August and concludes at the end of October," said Gerardo Álvarez González, president of the State Committee of the Grenisco-Granada Product System.
Last year, the approval was given for the first export of the red pomegranate to the neighboring country, with support from an intermediary for lack of packaging for such purposes, he recalled in an interview with Notimex.
He indicated that without intermediary the kilo of pomegranate could be sold at 2.50 dollars, instead, it was traded at 1.50 during the previous season.
"It's a pretty attractive price for us" because in the Mercado de Abastos de Guadalajara, for example, the kilo is bought at 7.0 pesos, said the Jalisco producer.
He said that the State Committee plans to send at least 60 percent of production this year and the remaining 40 percent is offered in several markets in the country, especially in Jalisco, where this fruit is processed and marketed in juice, jam and fresh bottled water.
Álvarez González said that the producers and businessmen of southern Jalisco also plan to put on sale a liquor of pomegranate and white tequila, which is already being tested.
He said that in the cultivation of wonderful pomegranate are allocated 13 hectares of an orchard located in Ciudad Guzmán, municipality of Zapotitlán el Grande, south Jalisco, where they employ about 40 people for harvesting, cutting and other processes during those three months.
When questioned about possible drawbacks to the policies of the new US government, the producer responded that these have not represented a problem to market the fruit, and stressed that the red grenade sent maintains all standards of phytosanitary control to avoid problems in this regard.
He shared that the State Committee of the Grenada System of Product of Jalisco is optimistic to concretize its plans of expansion to the markets of Canada and Asia, "although in the latter region we see it a little more distant because the strongest production is the Middle East, which is the origin of the fruit."
While in Mexico the Festival of Granada is promoted as a strategic measure to boost the harvest and the production of the fruit, detonating the economic and commercial development in several states.
The initiative has been present in some cities of Jalisco and Guanajuato, and organizers hope that next year will reach Hidalgo, where there is a high potential for the cultivation of pomegranate.
Álvarez González added that in the near future there will be a meeting with authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA, for its acronym in Spanish), with the intention of seeking support from the federal government.
Source: notimex
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