Seedling preparation in the nursery

The lemon seedlings have their particularities of preparation since their propagation is carried out through the grafting method. This preparation has to be carried out, due to the absence of seeds in the Tahiti lemon and problems with soil fungi, which canopy varieties are susceptible.

Papaya seedlings, on the other hand, are prepared by the traditional method where the seed is bought and they are germinated in the nursery and then go straight to the final planting site.

Cultivation

The cultural treatments necessary to give the fruits the ideal quality are: thinning of defective fruits (papaya), elimination of old leaves (papaya), management of weeds, management of diseases caused by fungi, elimination of plants infected by viruses (papaya) and pest management carried out through weekly monitoring by "pest control" agricultural technicians who studied the pests and diseases of each crop.

Harvest (production)

It can only be done manually since there is no machine that picks lemon or papaya. The ideal time is determined by the client, and papaya are usually harvested at maturation stages 1 and 2. And the lemon must be harvested respecting only the minimum size of the fruit, for this it is necessary the aid of rings that have a diameter of 50 mm, leaving for the next harvest the lemons that pass through the rings.

Harvesting is carried out with trained and well-protected personnel, avoiding possible burns from papaya latex and lemon peel oil.

Fruit processing

Fruit processing is carried out in the packing house, where the fruits are washed and waxed manually and classified according to the desired ripeness, the weight and size of the fruits for papaya only. The lemon, on the other hand, go through a sorting machine that washes, adds wax, dries and classifies the fruits according to the diameter of the fruits.

Packaging, traceability and transport

The three are made simultaneously according to the customer's requirement where the fruits can be placed inside standard plastic containers or cardboard boxes in the most varied sizes. In the specific case of papaya, an individual foam net is used to avoid possible mechanical damage of the fruits during transport to the final customer.

During this process, all packages will have a fruit traceability code. This code consists of data such as: place of harvest (square or field), date of harvest, date of packaging, month and year. All of this guarantees the quality and food safety of the fruits, since everything applied is recorded from planting to harvest. GlobalGAP's demand for the quality seal that we have and that without it our products could not be exported.