Production and marketing of mango in Guatemala
1999
Escobar, J. | Granados, C.(Ministry of Agriculture, Edificio Sanchez Oficina (Guatemala). Program for Developing Fruit Crops)
Mango is the most important tropical fruit for exports to Guatemala. Levels of production started to increase since 1993 and now total exporting accounts for 10,000 tons per year. About 90 percent of the total volume are exported to the USA and the rest 10 percent to the European Community. Tommy Atkins is the predominant cultivar. According to the last census about 7,000 trees have been grown in Guatemala by nearly 200 farmers. Because most of the production goes to the USA, a hot water treatment is required to allow mangoes being marketed within. Five hot water facilities have been built since 1993. However many problems have arose at different levels. At the farmer levels the incidence of new diseases affects deeply on the quality of production. Xanthomonas has been found at the end of the season and postharvest losses tended to increase in the same way. Its incidence is greater at the beginning of the rainy season. The harvest season starts in March and ends in June when prices are lowered by the Mexican production, the major mango suppliers of the USA. Currently there is an inventory of the diseases present within the country. At the market level, during the last couple of years price have been going down because new competitors have entered to participate in the same market. It seems that the market is reaching an equilibrium. Two key issues will drive the main efforts in Guatemala. The first one is to extend the harvest season introducing early varieties and the second one to reduce cost of production in order to be more competitive.
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