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Cuban tropical fruits in Europe
and Canada
• Just 2% of the national
harvest is earmarked for exportation
and the tourist industry
BY RAISA PAGES —Granma International staff writer—
ORGANIC coconuts, papaya and mango pulp are some of
the new exportable agricultural products in Cuba
that have been introduced to – and well-received in
–the competitive tropical fruit market in Europe and
Canada.
 The
Fruit Firms Union (UEF) exported more than 90,000
certified organic coconuts to Switzerland, plus 325
tons of fresh papaya and around 100 tons of
mango pulp to Europe and Canada during 2004.
Trade prices for tropical fruits are attractive:
over $450 per ton of organic coconut; between $700
and $800 per ton of papaya; and $900 per ton of
mango pulp.
“We
have to encourage a culture of exportation that is
very different to that of the internal market,”
commented Percy Ruiz, director of UEF. “We have to
select the most competitive varieties according to
the tastes of our clients,” he added.
Organic coconuts are found in Baracoa, the most
eastern municipality on the island. Biosuiz, the
international provider of certificates for organic
products, accredited the area where the produce is
grown.
The
Swiss firm Cop is responsible for commercialization
and is interested in acquiring large-sized coconuts
that contain the most amount of copra (dried coconut
meat), used for baking, specified Ruiz.
In
Baracoa, a coconut oil processing plant that had
been closed down has now reopened. This factory has
the annual capacity to process 5,000 tons, the same
quantity required by the Cuban company Suchel for
the manufacture of cosmetics.
The
income generated from sales of organic coconuts is
used to improve the quality of the raw products and
in the rehabilitation of the coconut oil industry.
In order to improve the labor of agricultural
workers active in this sector, bonus systems have
been established according the results of their
work.
Ruiz
demonstrated that there is also interest in coconut
juice, but investment is needed for technology to
bottle the liquid, a product with high energy value
but which is also prone to oxidation.
Originally from tropical and sub-tropical islands in
the Pacific Ocean, coconut crops have extended as
far as Central America, the Caribbean and tropical
Africa.
Coconut is the fruit with the highest calorific
value, containing some 351 calories per 100 grams.
QUALITY OPENS DOORS
Maradol papaya, obtained by Cuban scientist, the
late Adolfo Rodríguez has made its mark on the
Canadian market thanks to its quality even though it
is a smaller fruit than the buyers in this nation
are accustomed to. “They like to have a smaller
fruit that can be eaten in one go, without having to
keep them cut up in the fridge,” clarified Percy
Ruiz.
“In
the case of papaya exports to Canada, they are
transported by air and we have to adapt the
mechanisms in order attain competitive prices. This
year, we are hoping to export twice the amount we
did in 2004,” he affirmed.
Emilio Farrés from the Institute of Fruit Research
has evaluated that fresh papayas require a profit
level that transforms the fruit into a work of art.
He has assessed that profits obtained from exports
need to be used to attend to plantations and
invested in installations that are costly to
operate.
In
the case of sought-after mango pulp, it is hoped
that exports will increase to 2,500 tons. The
plantations where this fruit is grown for export are
being adapted to suit the needs of the clients, with
the planting of less fibrous varieties with an
improved external appearance.
RENOVATION OF PLANTATIONS
National production of tropical – not citric –
fruits rose to 490,000 tons in 2004, an amount that
represents an increase of over 40% in relation to
the most successful year prior to the economic
crisis in Cuba (268,000 tons).
Percy Ruiz, president of the Fruit Firms Union (UEF)
stated that the vast majority of fruit is set aside
for consumption by the population, given that
currently only 2% is allocated for exportation and
the tourist industry.
During the 1990s, the lack of supplies required to
maintain the plantations and an absence of means to
harvest the fruit caused an abrupt reduction. In
1993, the most critical year, only 67,000 tons of
non-citric fruit were harvested.
The
increase that has been reported today is the result
of a program to rescue tropical fruit, explained
Emilio Farrés deputy technical director of the
Institute of Tropical Fruit-Growing Research.
A
study was carried out to classify plantations
according to performance and their subsequent
capacity for recovery, he remarked.
“Tropical fruits are complex because each one is a
whole world in itself. The Institute has designed 36
different technologies to increase output of these
crops.”
The
dwarf guava – named as such for the rate at which it
produces fruit and also the reduced size of the
plant – and Maradol papaya are two successful
varieties that are yielding per hectare amounts
comparable to international averages, he specified.
The
researcher stated that, with respect to mango, there
is a program to renovate plantations in order to
quadruple output over the next few years, because it
is currently very low: 5.1 tons per hectare.
With
respect to pineapple, he reported that current
output is also poor at just 7.2 tons per hectare. A
process has begun to exchange Red Spanish pineapples
for the Smooth Cayenne variety which is sweeter,
smoother and better received on the international
market.
The
sowing of non-citric fruits is constantly on the
increase, a fact that is owed, according to Farrés,
to the propagation achieved in 395 nurseries
equipped with modern irrigation systems and
technology for organic produce, but “we need to
increase to 500 to meet demand.” Meanwhile, there
are another 1,000 so-called “rustic” nurseries that
provide supplies although they do not posses the
necessary technology. |
