Blueberry production has taken root in the municipality of El Fuerte and has become an excellent alternative crop. Six years into the project, the planting area has strengthened by more than 500 percent and already provides 7,000 jobs during the harvest, which will positively impact the inhabitants of the rural communities.
This important productive project started in the community of Boca de Arroyo and has gradually extended to other towns of the municipality of El Alto, where the people have embraced and endorsed this project because of the substantial economic benefits they receive, thanks to the generation of labor created by the culture.
The beginning
The project was launched in 2010 by Agricola de El Fuerte Fe and it has made the state one of the leading blueberry producers at the national level in a little over half a decade, sending exports to the United States and Canada and other countries that recognize the high quality of the blueberry produced in this county.
El Fuerte Fe is a company that seeks to continue surpassing its own production goals, increasing the surface established with this crop in coming years, which already amount to 550 hectares, 340 of which are already in production. This development has been accompanied by the strengthening of infrastructure, such as pre-cooling and cooling chambers, packaging areas, and equipment to improve the activities undertaken in the field permanently.
Parallel to the advances made in the production of this crop, the company is currently analyzing other alternatives that may be undertaken successfully, such as planting other fruits that would enable them to provide their employees with a job for most of the year.The advance made in the validations are already important and expectations are the company will soon have results in this regard.
Positive project
The blueberry production project in the municipality of El Fuerte has been very important because it has improved the area's economy and has generated employment that has allowed thousands of laborers, who previously roamed the valley in search of work, to settle down, said Marte Vega Roman.
The head of the Sagarpa's Rural Development District 001 said the project had been positive in all regards because there is a bigger economic flow in this area.
"We definitely see the project with good eyes because it is helping a region that was in need of jobs. In fact, year after year many people came to work temporarily in this valley harvesting vegetables and right now these people are staying here and are being paid well."
The crop has been very successful because there are very good yields with a very good quality, so much that employers are very happy and are trying to increase the surface area devoted to the crop.
