Mexico will be the second non-Asian country to host the Symposium of Papaya Producers and the first in the Americas….
MERIDA — Experts from papaya-producing countries from different parts of the world and from Mexico will have their world congress in Merida from the 24th to the 27th of October, where they will expose the importance of this fruit and the new export opportunities.
The official name of this summit of producers is the “5th International Symposium of Papaya” and in parallel Mexican producers will hold their “9th National Encounter of Papaya Producers” in the Hotel El Conquistador of this city.
Experts from Canada, the United States, Brazil, India, Costa Rica and producers and researchers from 10 Mexican states that are the main producers of papaya in the world have already confirmed their attendance.
One of the coordinators of this summit is Dr. Jorge Santamaria Fernández, chief researcher of the Center for Scientific Research of Yucatan (CICY). He reported that this event is sponsored by the International Society of Horticultural Sciences and is the summit where all the productive, scientific and marketing chain of elite meet, making it the most important in the world on this species of fruit. They will discuss topics on fruit genetics, tolerance to pest diseases, effects of drought, commercialization and the use of papaya for medical purposes, called nutraceutical, because it is scientifically proven that the consumption of this fruit is healthy and a protector of the human body when there is constant consumption of medicines and prevents diabetes and other degenerative diseases.
Papaya field (Photo: Diario de Yucatán)
Santamaría Fernández reported that it is the first time that Mexico will host this summit and Mérida was selected to receive the more than 120 experts of elite of the production chain of papaya in the world.
“There will be issues of great interest as new opportunities to export to other markets because now Mexico only sells to the United States,” he said. “There are new markets in Europe, Japan, Canada, China and other nations that demand this fruit, now that the North American Free Trade Agreement is at risk.”
This event had always been organized by Asia since its first editions. The group was already headquartered in Malaysia, Singapore, India and Australia, but now Mexico has its headquarters in terms of food production.
“We beat Hawaii and Brazil, two of the most important producers of papaya,” commented the researcher.
Merida will host the world congress from October 24 to 27.
The event also includes a visit to the productive unit of papaya Pamasur, in Tizimín, which exports the fruit, and a visit to the archaeological zone of Chichén Itzá.
“We put this event in the eyes of the international chain, it is a golden opportunity to show what Yucatan does well,” said Dr. Jorge Santamaría Fernández, organizer.
The inauguration, the conferences and the panel will be in the Hall El Mirador of the Hotel Conquistador, located in the emblematic Paseo de Montejo, and the closing will be in the Olimpo Cultural Center.
Source: yucatan.com.mx
