Cultivo y agroindustria de la guayaba - TvAgro por Juan Gonzalo Angel

Twitter @juangangel The guava suffers the same fate as other national crops and products: despite being discriminated against and almost abandoned, its value was recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Not only does the FAO recognize its value, but Germany does too. The largest exports of the fruit, with an average total value of $500,000, are directed to that market. The German market generates half of that foreign currency. Exports could grow further if the market for fruit and its derivatives were more organized. The only boost the guava has received in Colombia was through Law 165 of 1961, which promoted its cultivation. At that time, its importance to agriculture was looming. But in recent years, support has remained on paper. The guava's potential lies in its richness in vitamins A and C, phosphorus, calcium, and protein. It also contains a component called pictin that reduces cholesterol levels in the body. Although the snack food chain, from cultivation to various final products, shows problems in its various components, the value of its production is 50 billion pesos, according to Cimpa. This value is distributed as follows: the national harvest, for fresh consumption and processing, which averages 105,000 tons per year, is worth 5.5 billion pesos. The snack food and juice agroindustry adds more than 44 billion pesos. Chain Problems Some of the problems at the farm level are: predominance of wild production, lack of guava entrepreneurs, lack of capital investment, and phytosanitary problems that cause high annual losses. Many farms are aware of the nutritional value of this fruit, but they only use it as livestock feed. Like other national agricultural products, guava faces post-harvest and marketing problems. During harvest season, large volumes of fruit (25,000 tons) are lost because factories are unable to handle larger quantities, lacking storage and preservation methods, Cimpa points out. The industrial sector is no exception to the problems. For example, in snack manufacturing, equipment becomes obsolete, resulting in a large amount of fuel consumption, which harms the environment. Several factories lack storage infrastructure to preserve the pulp, forcing production to stop and selling it at a lower price. And as in other agricultural sectors, producers' incomes are small, with a consequent low standard of living. On average, a kilo of fruit costs 32 pesos, rising to 48 pesos at the peak of the harvest. Source: http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/docum... Juan Gonzalo Angel www.tvagro.tv