Peru, Chile and Mexico maintain the United States as their main market. Both Peru and Mexico have blueberries in the North American market for almost the entire year, while Chile reaches its peak between the beginning of February and mid-March. It is the first two countries that have surprised the industry with their growth. And it is that although Mexico is not close to the total Peruvian production, which exceeds 220 thousand tons per year, in the last five years the total Mexican volume exported has grown exponentially. The main difference between them: the dispersion of their markets.

Between October and November, 90% of the blueberries imported by the United States originate from Peru. Even with Mexico's undeniable geographic advantage, at the peak of Mexican blueberries in the US market, its share of all blueberries imported into the country only reaches 64%. The productive power of Peru seems to have no limit. Production projections for the South American country maintain the upward trend. During the current season, up to week 30, its exports to the United States increased by 75% compared to the same period in the previous campaign. Given the projections of Peruvian blueberry volumes and competition in the US market, the risk for Mexico is high: less than 10% of its harvest goes to markets other than North America.

The concern exists, however, the Mexican industry is not used to growing fruits to overcome the post-harvest barriers of the long travel times involved in reaching attractive markets such as Europe, the Middle East or Asia.

“Without a doubt, if more information is going to be needed, more training for the personnel. It is necessary to be more meticulous and rigorous in the harvesting part and in the selection of fruits to send”, affirmed José Ramón Saucedo, Phytosanitary leader of Driscoll's Mexico and part of its Department of Applied Research of Agronomy. 

After his talk at the International Seminar on Blueberries Mexico 2022, the Ph.D. in plant pathology spoke with Blueberries Consulting, organizer of the event, about the pests and diseases present in the country, in addition to the changes due to the opening of the local industry to distant markets.

“Resources are going to be needed. There is research with technology that, for example, can inform about the moment in which the spore germinates to avoid an infection”, explains Mr. Saucedo.

As explained by the professional, Mexico is fortunate as it only has conditions of cosmopolitan distribution, and although they are controlled, they have a presence in the vast majority of destination markets, so health barriers are less rigorous. “The 'Clean Stock' program always has a good control of microorganisms and is confirming the presence or absence of viruses. There are several viruses reported in the US that are not in Mexico, because fortunately they have been detected in time and have been ruled out. Additionally, there are federal institutions that are in charge of regulating pests and pathogens”, he explains.

The state and private effort to control the entry of pathogens not present in Mexico is of great importance to Saucedo, who believes that the greatest risk for exporting abroad is the entry of quarantine pests, which could "close markets and limit exports of blueberries from Mexico.

Blueberries affected by thrips (Thysanoptera).

Current Phytosanitary Problems

In Mexico, the greatest phytosanitary challenge is the so-called thrips, thrips or spiders (Thysanoptera). “They cause damage by reducing the photosynthetic capacity, they shorten the internodes and many times they damage the productive bud that the fruit will generate. In its biological cycle, most of the time it spends in the plant and it really has a very negative effect”, explains Saucedo.

The expert explains that although the arrival of thrips can occur at any phenological stage of the plant, the best time to combat the pest is during pruning, restarting the plant by removing a large part of the hosts and eliminating residues that are the focus of infestation. . “We are removing all the tissue that the thrips feed on. Whether fruits, flowers and vegetative buds; only the canes or stems remain, leaving them exposed, so applications will have a better chance of coming into contact with the insect,” he added.

Regarding diseases, the one with the highest incidence is Botrytis. “Any postharvest problem of the fruit with BotrytisIt is because we had problems in the pre-harvest. We have a geographical location that allows us to be in 24 to 48 hours at the border with the US, so we do not have such a high risk. However, if we want to plan to send to other places, it will be a very important problem, since the losses are very high, and we see many problems in pre-harvest, before packing. We need to make good use of agrocultural practices and fungicides to avoid this," said Saucedo about the care of botrytis for export to distant markets.

For José Ramón Saucedo, controlling the entry of pests and diseases in Mexico is efficient. However, management of local infection hotspots can be improved by training growers to better identify blueberry conditions. In this regard, he adds: “something that needs to be done with the producers is to train them to be more specific and detailed in making a good diagnosis, whether it is a plague or a disease, in order to be able to use the correct tools. ”. The Driscoll's researcher explains that many times the use of unsuitable products for the condition of the crop, or the wrong application of formulations, causes resistance in the diseases or pests that are trying to be controlled.

To avoid this, he recommends the use of control areas. "In affected and nearby farms, use a more uniform control, with the same molecule, so as not to generate this resistance in insecticides and fungicides."

To learn more about the state of the Mexican industry, sign up to be part of the next International Blueberry Month, an online event that will be held on August 16, 18, 23 and 25.