<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;line-height:130%"></span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">3.22.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>A severe drought in Tamaulipas, Mexico is forcing citrus growers to sell nearly 700,000 tons of fruit at half the normal price, according to El Diario de Ciudad Victoria.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">President of the Citrus Production Committee of Tamaulipas, Juan José Rodríguez said that growers are forced to sell off the crop because if they don’t, the fruit will go bad on the trees.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> “We have no alternative. We either sell or we’re left with nothing,” he said.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">He estimated that the 700,000 tons of fruit will be sold mainly to juice companies because the fresh fruit market has little demand.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The cost of production is 15,000 to 20,000 pesos per hectare but growers are selling at 800 to 1,000 pesos a ton, meaning that they are not likely to break even.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">In a normal year, Tamaulipas-area growers sell from March to July, but conditions are forcing growers to sell everything in a shorter period, effectively flooding the market and lowering prices.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Rodríguez said that next year could be even worse as the lack of moisture could prevent the trees from flowering.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“The drought problem is widespread throughout the region, but for us the situation is more severe as we do not have support programs. The only thing that could help would be to declare the region as a disaster zone and that appears difficult.”</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://eldiariodevictoria.com.mx/2013/03/21/a-remate-700-mil-tons-de-naranja/" target="_new">Mexican Citrus</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
