Blackberry production in the leading Mexican production state of Michoacán has plummeted by 29 percent, according to La Voz de Michoacán, citing date from the Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Information Service (SIAP)

With just over 148,000 metric tons (MT) from January to October, the production of blackberries in 2020 is on its way to being the lowest volume produced in the last five years.

Michoacán produces 94 percent of blackberries in Mexico and exports almost all the product, which has been difficult this year due to lockdowns and border closures throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

José Luis Bustamante Fernández, President of the National Association of Berries (Aneberries), pointed out that the pandemic has been particularly detrimental to Mexican berries, not only in terms of production but also in the channels of commercialization.

The pandemic impacted the issue of internal sales channels and affected the logistics of routes and export processes for berries, especially with the neighboring U.S., which did not start to normalize until after the month of spending.

The municipality of Los Reyes, with 69,600MT of blackberries, is the largest producer in Michoacán. It represents 40 percent of the blackberries produced.

The sharp drop in production comes as an investigation gets underway to determine whether imports of blueberries have harmed domestic growers.