The 2022 Agricultural Census revealed that of the more than 4.4 million active agricultural production units, 71.8% have up to 5 hectares and 28.2% are above that measurement.
“It is impossible to achieve self-sufficiency in the sense of being productive in everything, and having everything. That doesn’t happen in any country,” said Cruz.
“The federal government backed down and changed the theme that self-sufficiency is for people who are in rural areas so that they can produce within their plots that is enough for themselves,” he added.
Productivity
Although one option for the country has to do with substituting imports, this also seems complicated due to a productivity issue, those interviewed agreed.
Unlike previous six-year periods, in this one the productivity of the Mexican countryside has decreased.
“This is due to several conditions: 1. The budget that was previously intended to increase productivity, technology transfer and innovation, today is focused on increasing the productivity of small producers. 2. Insecurity plays a very important role. Floor rights are charged to lemon, mango and avocado producers,” Cruz said.
This uncertainty, a product of the lack of the rule of law, has also reduced foreign direct investment in the countryside.
Mexico has regions such as the south-southeast, where corn can be produced, “but it must be done in a more modern way, with technological innovation, with training and technical advice so that production can be increased and done more efficiently” Haro said.
He added that it is necessary that support programs be given without distinction of the size of the producer. “In Mexico, support is conditioned and will only be given to small producers,” when those competing against producers from countries like the United States are medium and large businesses.
“In the agricultural sector, the GDP variation had a growth of 4.5%, in the six-year term of Felipe Calderón 1.5%, with Vicente Fox 1.9%. In this administration, agricultural GDP has grown on average 0.7%. The numbers are not flattering at all,” he lamented.
Another limitation to productivity has to do with land areas. A producer cannot have more than 100 hectares, when in Argentina or Brazil they can plant up to 10,000 hectares of a crop, Haro pointed out.
The president of the ANC called on the government to allocate resources in the 2024 budget, the last of this administration, to increase food production, without conditioning its delivery based on the size of the producer, or any other type.