SADER Highlights the Importance of Cempasuchil

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER) and the National Lottery unveiled a special lottery ticket to honor Mexico’s cempasuchil flower producers, emphasizing the flower’s significance in Mexican heritage and its role in the economy. Cempasuchil, used widely for Dia de Muertos celebrations, holds both cultural and economic value. 

Julio Berdegué, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, highlighted that this collaboration aims to showcase Mexico's agricultural diversity, with SADER’s Nuestra Riqueza: La Agricultura Mexicana (“Our Wealth: Mexican Agriculture) project serving to highlight farmers’ contributions to both local traditions and economic growth. “Agriculture is more than production; it is culture, values, and a particular way of understanding nature,” he noted.

Since 2017, Mexico’s cempasuchil industry has expanded to cover over 2,471ha, mainly across Mexico City, Puebla, Estado de Mexico, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, San Luis Potosi, Oaxaca, and Guerrero, ensuring that Dia de Muertos traditions can be celebrated nationwide. Recent data shows that the sector employs around 140 flower producers in Xochimilco and Tlahuac, with women representing 60% of the workforce. Rosendo Rogel Guadarrama, Representative, Sistema Producto Flores y Ornamentales organization, emphasized that the cempasúchil is a significant contribution from Mexico to the world, driven by small-scale producers’ dedication, even amid challenges from the pandemic.

Leonel Cota, Deputy Minister, SADER, underscored the importance of supporting this industry as part of Mexico’s heritage. “All this effort is worthwhile because it unites us as a society and as a sector within the Mexican government,” he said. Julia Álvarez, Minister of the Environment, Mexico City, highlighted the significance of consumer support for the farmers of the Suelo de Conservación (Conservation Soil) program, reminding the public that buying cempasúchil flowers helps sustain both local ecosystems and heritage.