RIO RICO, AZ — Ataulfo mangos from Chiapas, Mexico, were given a little extra time to mature this year, according to Edgar Duarte, a partner in Higueral Produce Inc., located here. Thus, rather than the usual late-February start, the Ataulfo deal will gain volume in early March.

Duarte noted that the February market “was not that good either, and with the cost of transportation” from southern Mexico came the decision to wait until the fruit was at optimal maturity.

Round mango varieties, such as Hayden and Tommy Atkins, will come on in late March. Upcoming production areas are Oaxaca, Guerrero and Nayarit. For Higueral, the season will end with production from Los Mochis, Sinaloa. Los Mochis mangos will finish sometime in September — likely by mid-September, Duarte said, but that deal has gone as long as late September.

On Feb. 23, Carlos Villa and Edgar Duarte, partners in Rio Rico, AZ-based Higueral Produce Inc., stood in their refrigerated warehouse with various produce items. By early March, Higueral will be shipping mangos under the ‘Del Rio’ brand.USDA phytosanitary protocols do not require hot water treatment for Los Mochis mangoes because it is in a fruit fly-free zone.

“If the weather continues, we expect good quality,” he said. “The flowers are blooming fine. As long as there is not wind and rain — which would knock down the blooms — we will be fine. It should be a good production year. There were no hard freezes.”

Duarte noted that wind alone doesn’t cause much of a problem for mango production. And rain alone isn’t a negative factor either. But it is the combination of the two conditions that mango growers fear.

Duarte and Carlos Villa are partners with two Los Mochis mango growers as well as fifth partner, who is one of the growers’ brothers. As the company has become established as a successful marketer, it has attracted independent mango and vegetable growers asking to be represented by the firm, Duarte said. This is Higueral’s ninth season of operation.

Higueral also markets Persian limes, and that volume will be doubling this year to what is expected to be about a trailer-load of limes per day.

Duarte said some of Higueral’s vegetable suppliers toward the south in Mexico suffered setbacks in February due to rain.

Higueral’s largest-volume vegetable items are hot peppers, Jalapeños and tomatillos.

Recently the firm has been selling a trailer-load of fresh Jalapeños per week to the North American fresh market — and 10 or 12 loads a week to processors. “The Jalapeños market has been as low as 25 or 30 cents per pound this year, but we have processing contracts for 28 to 32 cents per pound.” He noted the processing-market Jalapeños are packed in the field and do not require expensive packaging or grading.