Madagascar: a Record Price of a Kilo of Lychees

The campaign of 2011 litchi in Toamasina was one of the quietest in years. The production is very bad, even catastrophic, both in terms of quantity and quality. According to the testimony of the collectors on site, most of the production area north of Foulpointe up Soanierana Ivongo is inadmissible because of the caliber too small fruits. This is especially the area north of Brickaville up Vatomandry and Mahanoro, who saved the situation and complete the first conventional ship which sailed Tuesday. Consequently, the price has experienced an unprecedented boom, sometimes reaching up to 700 Ariary per kg at the farmers and bought at 1100 or 1200 MGA by exporters.

" The exporters snapped up the few products acceptable arriving at Toamasina. I do not see for now how can we reach the amount needed to export , "says Lanto Rakotomalala, a collector of litchi.

Normally the first week of the campaign is very intense. Stations opens turn 24/24, long queues of vehicles that deliver the litchi are observed to exporting companies. But this year, Toamasina is located in an unusually quiet and the number of vehicles arrived in Antananarivo to participate in the biggest economic event of the year for this region has declined significantly.

" People also preferred to the campaign of cloves this year because for the first time, the price of the product has reached 20 000 Ariary. In some villages in the north especially, it becomes very difficult to find labor to collect the fruit, "   said one trader of Toamasina.

Skepticism

Uncertainty prevails as a result of the campaign of lychee and the ability of exporters to fulfill their contracts.Already the first boat party to Europe contained only 75% of 6600 pallets provided for in its refrigerated hold. A second ship was to sail on Friday and there was no indication that it would be fully loaded. Fruit quality will it improve in the coming days? The situation today is so skeptical that it has not rained for several days in areas of production.

Madagascar is going to export to Europe this year than during the litchi that previous campaigns. But the bright side, however, professionals want to capitalize on the situation and improve the quality of the product packaging. The decrease in the amount allowed exporters to further refine their method of sulfur treatment and especially their system of self control. In 2010, European countries have already issued warnings on this point for litchi in Madagascar.

And if the date of opening of the campaign was postponed, she would have improved the production? In 2006, for example, the campaign did not start until December 4.