Agriculture is an economic bright spot in Mexico
That is, if President Andrés Manuel López Obrador does not mess it up
ROMÁN JUÁREZ has expanded his tomato farm several times since starting it 15 years ago. It now spans two separate sites in a rural area of the state of Puebla, south-east of Mexico City. In a good season, each one of the 38,000 plants he grows in his large, greenhouse-like tents can produce up to 160 tomatoes. Although farming can be risky, Mr Juárez is prospering, mostly because since 2016 he has exported his produce to the United States. “We do business where there is business,” he says.
This year Mexico is expected to export 1.8m tonnes of tomatoes to its northern neighbour, a record. Last year exports of tomatoes alone were worth around $2.3bn. Tomatoes are the most striking—and the largest—example of a bigger trend. Mexico exported agricultural goods worth $39.5bn last year, around 10% of the country’s total exports. Agriculture, which accounts for 4% of Mexico’s GDP, grew by 2% last year, even as the economy as a whole contracted by 8.5%.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline "Reaping the rewards of trade"
More from The Americas
Why Ecuador risked global condemnation to storm Mexico’s embassy
Jorge Glas, who had claimed asylum from Mexico, is accused of abetting drug networks
The world’s insatiable appetite for Canada’s maple syrup
Production is booming, but climate change is making output more erratic
Elon Musk is feuding with Brazil’s powerful Supreme Court
The court has become the de facto regulator of social media in the country