The Paradigm of Intensive Agriculture and Globalization

Among the areas where Mexico benefits from  its trade relations with North American countries is in the agriculture sector and the brewing industry. Indeed, Mexico has significantly increased the export of fruits and vegetables. Not only are avocados and blueberries being exported, but many of the basic basket products are as well, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, mangoes, albeit with the quality standards of our northern neighbors. .

We also see how Mexico has positioned itself as the world's largest beer exporter over the last few decades. The sector moves in such a way that large conglomerates already have a foothold in Mexico and want to expand, as seen with the case of Constellation Brands brewery.

All these financial successes of the agro-industrial sector in the macroeconomy are signs of good economic health, but from the concrete perspective of the territory and socio-environmental issues, things take a turn.

In the agricultural sector and the environmental setting, things do not look the same. In the former, a gap is opening between the world of agribusiness and the world of Mexican farmers. While the former earns millions in profits, the latter struggles to survive. While Mexico exports high-yield agricultural products, our partners export basic basket products in direct competition with our farmers, as is the case with corn, pushing the price down.

The anger and criticism during this six-year presidential term have been mitigated thanks to some social programs like Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life), fertilizer for well-being, and the guaranteed price of Sinaloan corn. But these measures are not enough, and there is a great possibility that the countryside can no longer endure, as is happening in many countries around the world.

Indeed, since the end of last year and throughout the first months of this year, we have seen farmer movements in various European countries, starting in Germany — a country that is known for having few social protests, unlike its neighbor, France, where protests are among the most violent. But uprisings have spread across Europe, including Italy, Greece, Romania, Poland, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands.

The constant is that the countryside can no longer endure all the technocratic measures that, regardless of the difficult situations the sector finds itself in as it seeks the most competitive prices, drive down the prices of products, while the cost of inputs increases: diesel, fertilizers, agrochemicals. These are accompanied by greater European bureaucratic hurdles due to regulatory measures for environmental protection and the fight against climate change, without taking the sector into account.

We see there is a lack of sensitivity regarding how the productive and neoliberal economic model over the last 50 years, pushed agriculture not only to undergo the green revolution with the mechanization of processes but also increased the use of hydrocarbons and agrochemicals so that intensive agriculture could have higher yields.
The model has pushed the agricultural world into practices that are destroying the biomass of the fields. At the same time, they have to sell their harvests to compete with products coming from emerging countries.

The farming world is at a crossroads; current processes are deteriorating the soils and extinguishing biodiversity while also putting human and animal health at risk. But if they move toward a more environmentally friendly agricultural process that is less harmful to health, yields would decrease to such an extent that they could not survive.

As we see, the agricultural sector can no longer endure this model, but it is very difficult to break away from it. Several geopolitical experts believe that globalization and the free market of agricultural products are no longer viable, and the rise of populism in the world announces the end of globalization.