Corn Production in Mexico Drops
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Corn Production in Mexico Drops

Photo by:   Estúdio Bloom, Unsplash
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Sofía Hanna By Sofía Hanna | Journalist and Industry Analyst - Fri, 03/26/2021 - 16:59

By the end of this year, Mexico will not be able to meet its expected corn production goal. Official figures were released by the statistical agency SIAP of the Ministry of Agriculture and revealed that there is an estimate of producing 27 million tons, nevertheless, this is not certain because budget cuts continue to be made.  

 

President López Obrador has promised payments and funds to corn growers during his administration. In fact, in August of last year, he mentioned, "I take the opportunity to say that we are going to fulfill our commitment so that all corn producers in Sinaloa have a preferential price, a price that motivates them to continue producing. All of them are going to receive a subsidy. Of course, the subsidy is higher for small producers. It is a commitment that we made and it will be fulfilled," reported an official release of the Sinaloa government. The president also announced a substitution program for harmful herbicides. This program would be useful to generate new jobs and that would help to use substances that are not chemical or harmful to the environment, according to El Universal.

Recent information given by Juan Pablo Rojas, president of the CNPAMM federation, shows that the government's direct cash payments program for more than two million small farmers is unlikely to increase production, despite official pronouncements that claim it will. This is because "the land is not becoming more productive with MX$8,000 (US$388) a year," reported a Forbes article.

This problem affects the goal of making Mexico a self-sufficient food nation. The idea is to increase crop yields so that lesser amounts of food are to be imported. The problem is that the quantity produced has continued to decline. Last year, corn´s national production reached 27.5 million tons. According to the SIAP, the production of corn in 2021 will be 26.9 million tons, that is, 2 percent less than in 2020. Those are the numbers released by SIAP, but according to what Rojas mentioned, "the SIAP has no way of knowing how much is being produced, or how much is going to be produced because it does not have technical personnel in the sector to verify that information," reported. 

Photo by:   Estúdio Bloom, Unsplash

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