Felipe Carrillo Puerto, August (Galu Comunicación) .- The president of the Tihosuco´s Pitahaya Basin, Armando Poot Chablé, reported that they have not been able to get out of the difficult situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, so they are looking for strategies to place their crops in local and regional markets, undermining their profits.
He mentioned that the pandemic caused the closure of international markets, and therefore losses to producers who have not been able to sell and export the fruit abroad.
Also added that since then, they have tried to find sales channels in the national, regional and local market, in order to lose as less as possible.
Poot Chablé stressed that at the beginning of the year they had planned to export the crops to England, however, the health contingency led to the closure of exports, which has caused the sale to be mainly in the touristic sector of Quintana Roo.
The representative of the pitahaya basin stressed that they have also worked to position the fruit in recent weeks, in the southeast of the country, mainly in Campeche and Tabasco, where they have sold 20 tons of the exotic fruit.
Armando Poot indicated that although it is not a price that would usually represent a significant income, they managed currently to place each box at 380 mexican pesos, amount which represents, anyway, a considerable profit for producers who at least minimized losses due to shrinkage.
Nevertheless, he warned that, for the second cut of the pitahaya harvest, the price could fall to 250 pesos per box, because they foresee that production will increase.
“As a rule, we know that the higher the production, the prices tend to fall, it is a question of supply and demand, however, we consider that the prices continue to be reasonable,” said the leader of the Pitahaya basin.
Finally, he highlighted that on the route, which includes the communities of Santa Rosa, Tihosuco and Tepich, they have an estimated production area of 460 hectares, managing to sell, only in the first cut of the season, about 120 tons of pitahaya.
