October 4, 2010

 

Corn harvest in Mexico rises to record 25 million tonnes

Mexico harvested a record 24.9 million tonnes of corn this crop year and may increase output next year as steadier rainfall and new technology improve yields, said Agriculture Deputy Minister Mariano Ruiz-Funes.

 

Corn production may rise about 3% to 25.6 million tonnes in the 12 months that begin this month, Ruiz-Funes said. Mexico's corn output gained about 3% in the crop year through September from the prior year, he said.

 

"Mexican corn producers are caring more and more about the introduction of better technology packages for their crops," Ruiz-Funes said.

 

Technology such as region-specific seeds is boosting yields to produce as much as 11 tonnes of corn per hectare in Sinaloa in northern Mexico, Ruiz-Funes said. Increased rain is also helping farmers during the planting season, he said. The national yield average is about 2.7 tonnes per hectare.

 

"There's going to be an explosion in corn production," said Carlos Salazar, head of Mexico's national corn growers association. Reservoirs at levels above 90% and high corn prices will make farmers switch crops to corn from sorghum, Salazar said.

 

Corn has surged 33% since the end of June, reaching a two-year high of US$5.288 on September 27. Corn for December delivery dropped 1.4 % to US$4.888 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT).

 

Mexico may produce 7.5 million tonnes of sorghum and 4.3 million tonnes of wheat this crop year, Ruiz-Funes said.

 

Grupo Bimbo SAB, the world's largest bread maker, is more optimistic about sales in Mexico this yeae, Chief Executive Officer Daniel Servitje said on July 22.

 

Mexico, the world's second-largest importer of coarse grains, may import as much as 9 million tonnes of corn in 2011, Ruiz-Funes said. Japan is the world's largest importer of course grains such as corn.

 

"Our expectation is to gradually reduce corn imports," Ruiz-Funes said. Mexico, the world's second-biggest corn buyer, may eliminate corn imports in about eight years, he said.

 

Mexico expects to cut imports by persuading farmers to plant more yellow corn instead of sorghum or white corn, Ruiz-Funes said.

 

Most of the country's production is white corn, used to make staple foods such as tortillas. Mexico imports between eight million tonnes and nine million tonnes of yellow corn annually because domestic production isn't sufficient to cover local demand, he said. A majority of the imported corn is from the US. Yellow corn is used to feed animals.

 

Convincing farmers to change their planting habits may not be an easy task, according to Salazar, of Mexico's national corn growers association.

 

"It's very difficult to change farmers' minds to stop planting the product they have planted for years," he said. "It's also hard to convince cattle ranchers to feed a different corn for their animals."

 

The US is the world's largest corn producer followed by China and Brazil.