The province of Manica, in the center of the country, intends to export more than 6,000 tons of lychee per season over the next few years, mainly to the European market, a challenge that involves improving the quality of the product.
The information was released on Tuesday, November 21, by the governor of Manica, Francisca Tomás, who believes that the province has a high potential for lychee production, and has therefore invited the players in the production and marketing chain, both public and private, to be proactive and intervene in the search for solutions, with the aim of raising the quality standards demanded on the international market.
“To this end, it is important to invest seriously in the rehabilitation, modernization and expansion of production infrastructures, the introduction of new varieties, disease and pest control, as well as the technical training of producers in the family sector. Only in this way will we be laying the foundations for our lychee to reach internationally recommended standards, and we can ensure an increase in exports and an improvement in the trade balance,” she said.
Also according to Francisca Tomás, production of this fruit grew by 56.7%, reaching 25,651 tons in the last harvest, compared to 16,367 in the same period last year.
Of the quantity produced in 2022, only 490 tons were exported this year, compared to 400 in the previous period, representing a growth of 22.5%.
“As we can see, a large part of production is consumed domestically and export levels remain very low, a situation that is linked to the quality standards demanded on the international market,” she said, challenging producers to look for mechanisms to improve quality in order to reach the desired export levels.
