Papaya growers from Colombia's department of Córdoba began international exports for the first time this week. A container carrying 18 tons of the fruit departed from the Santa Maria port Friday for Canada, the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) said.

Sectors of the Alto Sinú zone in Valencia were found to be at low risk of fruit diseases Ceratitis capitata and Anastrepha by ICA in 2011. These diseases can cut production by up to 40%, ICA reported, and restrict commercial possibilities.

ICA general manager Luis Humberto Martínez Lacouture said export was made possible after the zone was found free of invasive species from November 2006 to October 2011.

"To maintain the condition of the zone, ICA carries out constant phytosanitary surveillance through a network of routes and producer land, fruit sampling, health training, phytosanitary check points and information updates on the zone," Martínez said.

Producers from Córdoba's Valencia province expect to continue export with two containers a week to Canada and  a volume increase to four weekly containers in eight months.

ICA hopes to increase the number of producers in the province that register for export. Of 150 papaya farms in Valencia, only eight are currently registered.

Other low risk papaya zones in Colombia are found in Cundinamarca, Valle, Caldas, Quindío and Risaralda. South Guajira is considered pest free.

Córdoba has around 1,000 planted hectares of papaya, 40% of which are in Valencia.

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