Mango growers in the Mexican state of Michoacan are looking to industrialization as a source of recovery in a difficult and oversupplied market, website Oem.com.mx reported.

Lázaro Cárdenas Local Board for Plant Protection president Ignacio Águila Chacón, said it was important to plan and adapt to market needs as production was currently greater than consumption, the story reported.

He told the website mangoes were "once an exotic fruit that could be produced up to three times a year and then you didn't have them, but today the United States has mangoes the whole year and that's led to fewer exports".

He said growers needed support and management through the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fishing and Food (SAGARPA), to help avoid the sort of problems that have occured in the past, the story reported.

He said a mango farming 'reactivation' would need greater organization to give confidence through real projects instead of 'handouts'.

"To be able to do business and create employment for people you need a tractor, a mower, yard management and an irrigation system, but not given away - so if I need one million pesos (US$80,888) they give a national credit that I can pay with 30% of the profits for the next five or 10 years, which will become a business for me and I will be able to hire some people," he was quoted as saying.

Photo: Georgina Gasca, El Sol de Morelia

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