Facts and figures: protected vegetable sector in Mexico

To have an idea about the size and development of the protected vegetable sector in Mexico, the following information is useful:

Protected horticulture is widely spread in Mexico and present in all 32 states.
98% of the protected production in Mexico is destined to horticulture. The main crops grown under protected agriculture are tomato (70%), peppers (16%), cucumber (10%) and others (4%). It is estimated that annually between 80 and 90% of greenhouse vegetable production is exported. 80% of exports are shipped to the United States, 4% to Canada, and the rest to other markets.
60% of the total area can however be found in the following states: Sinaloa, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Jalisco and Estado de Mexico.
In 2000, in Mexico there were only 790 hectares of protected agriculture but in 2015 that number had increased to 23.251 hectares.
Every year the total surface increases by 1,200 hectares.
The strongest growth is nowadays taking place in the states Sinaloa, Jalisco, Guanajuato and Michoacán.
Mexico ranks as the seventh world power in production of vegetables in greenhouses, above the Netherlands (9,820 ha), France (9,790 ha) and the US (8,425 ha).
The productive capacity is good for more than 3.5 million tons of vegetables with a value of more than 1,500 million dollars.
Tomato is the most important product which is grown in protected horticulture. Cucumbers, peppers and eggplant follow. Berries are growing in importance.
Currently the protected horticulture sector is one of the most dynamic economies in the primary sector, with around 240,000 direct jobs and 300,000 indirect jobs and generating 10 thousand new jobs annually.
In Mexico more and more companies make the change to protected horticulture because larger profits can be made. Apart from these larger profits, it is easier to fulfill the requirements to enter the market of the United States when producing in a protected environment.
To stay competitive collaboration within the sector will get more important.
There is a growing number of large companies in the Mexican horticulture sector that uses greenhouses with a high technological level. These large companies mainly produce high-quality products for the export market (mainly USA).
In Mexico a company will normally not make one single step from ‘medium-tech’ to ‘high-tech’ but will little by little improve certain parts of the production facilities.

Source: Agroberichten Buitenland