Avocado and tomato sell more than ever

In March, shipping of vegetables and fresh produce totaled $3, 204 million dollars

Mexican exports of vegetables and produce of tomato and avocado reported levels never seen before in March, according to data from National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).

In the third month of this year, foreign sales of vegetables and fresh produce totaled 320,421 million dollars, whereas shipments of tomato totaled 262,585 million dollars and avocado shipments totaled 155,886 million dollars, and these products reported historical levels.

These positive results for the Mexican field and sea could not be understood without analyzing the last ten years, said Leticia Armenta from Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Estado de México.

“This growth requires a rather long maturation period of the investment. Work has been performed in the sector to a level of technological update training, but a very important part is the training given to growers” she said.

In interview with El Financiero, she added that in the last decade, growers should open their eyes to opportunities in other products such as berries; she also promoted agriculture, livestock and fisheries exports.

“In the case of berries; in 2003 we were exporting 181 million dollars and ten years later this led to 566 million dollars; frankly, this is a very large increase,” she stated.

As for the extraction of sea products, the specialist noted the growth of aquaculture; leading to increase value product exports, such as shrimp and oyster, representing a 37 and 27% of this activity, respectively.

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In the first quarter, the value of agriculture and livestock product exports exceeded oil exports for the first time since 1980. In March alone; agriculture, livestock and fisheries sales totaled 581 million dollars, reporting an annual increase of 14.3%, and oil companies totaled 1,274 million dollars. BofA analysts said that the oil sector has contracted due to the sharp decline of prices and crude oil production since 2014.

By: El Financiero