is sector that wasstagnant over the past two and a half decades, has become the subject ofgovernment initiatives aimed at its modernization within a larger nationalcontext of economic reform. This essay will look at the challenges of theagricultural sector and state its new role in the Mexicans economy. TheMexico agricultural system exports fruits and vegetables, beer and tequila,seafood and cattle, and imports grains, oilseeds and animal products, someof these products will be discussed also. First off the Mexican government has started to promote exports in theircountry and has been trying to make agriculture competitive. This hasdeveloped new programs for financing agriculture and capitalizing thesector.
The government has been also trying to protect the country’snatural resources and trying to promote alternatives in farming. In newsweeping changes the Mexico government has deregulated markets, loweredinternal trade barriers, and eliminated red tape for investors andgovernment intervention. All of this has added to the economy of Mexico andimproved the agriculture system from decades ago. Mexico has 39 millionhectares suitable for forests, 125 million hectares suitable for cattleraising, 30 million hectares suitable for crops and 10 million hectares ofirrigated arable land, which add to promote this country for future use inthis industry. These points are positive for Mexico for future economicbenefit and agricultural improvements. Mexico is one of the world’s largest exporters of fruits andvegetables, with value of exports representing 20 percent of the 6.
14billion-dollar world trade. The country currently holds one of the topplaces in the worldwide fruit production and has low production costs. TheNorth American market absorbs 90 percent of total Mexican fruit andvegetable exports, which in 1990, amounted to approximately $990 milliondollars (U. S. ). Tomatoes are the principal vegetable produced and exported,with production added to 3 percent of the total agricultural output.
Tomatoes account for 31. 8 percent of vegetable exports. Mexico ranks secondin the world tomato market. The recent privatization of sugar mills in Mexico has made thenational sugar industry a competitive activity.
The new pricing system,including sliding tariff scale, has created a horizon for price stabilityand protests the industry for international market. The tabacco and coffeesector is very popular and a very big industry in Mexico. The Mexicancoffee industry ranks fourth in the world. Beef is a very important product in the producing sector of theMexican economy. The beef industry is on the growth with a 9 percentincrease every year for the last 6 years. Pork production is another majorlivestock industry.
In 1991, 28 percent of Mexico’s total meat came frompork. Pork is the most ate meat in Mexico, with a 5 percent increase inpork production between 1990-1991. Sales of pork products, such as sausageand cold meats have increased as they make up an important part of theaverage Mexican’s diet. The strengths of the Mexican agricultural system is the fruit andvegetables production are up to world class standards and Mexico hasdifferent types of climates which allow to produce almost any kind ofagricultural product. They also have a large fishery potential due to thevast coastline.
The weaknesses of the Mexican agricultural system is lackof modern technology, lack of local manufacturing in equipment and lack ofcapabilities of new product development. The flower industry has been a neweconomic activity, which has grown in the years. The value of flowerexports has grown from 1 billion dollars in 1982 to 25 million dollars in1989. The exports to the major markets consist of mainly of carnations androses. “Research in Mexico in the 1950’s and 1960’s led to the development ofthe high yielding varieties of wheat and rice that launched the GreenRevolution”.
The reason for these high yielding varieties and its successwas because of water, fertilizers, machinery and availability to it. Thefarmers in Mexico that had access to this progressed, also with the help ofaccess to water and transport. This can help produced food and security fora very increasing population in Mexico. Fertilizer use is up in Mexico fromjust around 40-50 in the late 1970’s to 70 kilograms per hectare ofcropland in early 1990’s, for the average annual fertilizer use. This showsa reason for increase growth in food productions and soil conditions inMexico. NAFTA was expected to enhance the division of labour between the UnitedStates, Canada and Mexico in agriculture.
The United States would exportmore grains, oilseeds, .
