November 27, 2006

 

Mexico's poultry production triples in the past 15 years

 

 

Poultry meat production in Mexico more than tripled over the past 15 years, exceeding beef production, according to a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) entitled Agricultural and Fisheries Policies in Mexico.

 

According to the report, apart from a pause in 1996: starting from a production volume 750,000 tonnes in 1990, by 2005 Mexican poultry production had surpassed 2.4 million tonnes.

 

The report analyses the effects of Mexico's ambitious reforms to agricultural and fisheries policies since 1990 and makes recommendations for further reforms.

 

The report noted that Mexico's agricultural sector is characterised by positive economic growth that is slower than the growth of the wider economy, great disparities in farm types from subsistence to highly commercialised, and inefficient use of some natural resources such as land and water.

 

The report also noted that the average growth rate of the agricultural sector over the past 15 years was 1.9 percent  from the start of the 1990s to 2004, as compared to an overall economic trend growth rate of 3.0 percent a year.

 

This however, did not take into account a great deal of volatility in between, the report said.

 

The report said the contribution of primary agriculture to overall GDP has decreased steadily from 6.3 percent in 1990 to 5.4 percent  in 2004.

 

Primary agricultural and fisheries goods trade has expanded since policy changes lowered barriers to trade starting in 1994, and trade in food, beverages and tobacco has increased more rapidly, OECD noted.

 

Primary agricultural and fishery exports have grown 4.6 percent a year but agricultural imports also increased since the early 1990s, at a rate of 7.1 percent a year.

 

The direction of trade flows in primary agricultural and fisheries products has been distributed fairly evenly among trading partners over the past 15 years. Exceptions are the European Union, whose countries now provide a much lower share of Mexico's total imports, and Canada, whose share has doubled.

 

The United States has been Mexico's main trading partner throughout this period, providing more than two-thirds of Mexico's imports and buying the vast majority of Mexico's exports, the OECD noted.

 

The report also said the amount of land allocated to raising livestock in Mexico is large. There are only 28 million hectares of grasslands, but it has been estimated that 55 percent  of the country's total area - around 107 million hectares - is actually dedicated to livestock.

 

Of the 28 million hectares of grasslands, two-thirds is cultivated or improved in some way, whereas the remaining 10 million hectares are not improved in any significant way.

 

A considerable amount of arid land is used for livestock and subsistence agricultural activities, but is mostly covered by desert vegetation.

 

The volume of pork production also increased more quickly than beef production over the 1990 to 2005 period, but at less than half the rate of poultry.

 

Milk is also an important livestock product that has grown over the period, which grew at 3.2 percent a year.

 

During the period from 1990 to 2005, milk production grew nearly two-thirds, going from 6.3 billion litres in 1990 to almost 10.1 billion litres in 2005.

 

Egg production trend growth was almost 5 percent  a year during the last 15 years, resulting in a doubling of the volume of eggs.

 

Comparing growth in production volume and real value, most of the change in poultry and egg real value of production comes about due to higher volume rather than rising average real values per unit.

 

Trends in the real value of livestock products are mostly unpronounced, and levels vary considerably. The most important product by a narrow margin is beef, which accounted for 9 percent  to 12 percent  of the value of production between 1990 and 2005, the report said.

 

In fact, the value of beef production has grown by 2.8 percent  a year, but this rate has been exceeded by most other livestock products.

 

At 7.8 percent  a year, the real value of poultry production has increased most quickly over the past 15 years, but sheep meat value of production has increased at 5.4 percent  a year and pork at 3.8 percent  a year, the report said.

 

The real value of milk production has also climbed steadily, rising by 4.3 percent  a year in the case of the cow milk. The egg industry has also expanded rapidly, at 5.4 percent a year.

 

The report also pointed out the fisheries sector has played an important role in the economic development of Mexico.

 

While the contribution of the sector to the whole Mexican economy is relatively small in terms of GDP, it is important with regard to economic, social and environmental issues, the report said.

 

Institutions are permanently confronted with preserving fisheries resources and at the same time need to encourage economic development and alleviate poverty, the report added.

 

Aquaculture production has grown at a rate of 1.2 percent  a year since 1990 and accounted for 12 percent  of Mexico's total fish production in 2004. While this is relatively low compared to the average OECD proportion of 31 percent , the Mexican aquaculture sector is still in the early stages of development.

 

The main species cultivated are shrimp, mojarra, oysters and carp, with shrimp accounting for 32 percent  of total aquaculture production. The importance of shrimp aquaculture has been increasing rapidly with an average annual increase of 22 percent  since 1990 (albeit from a low base), and there are high expectations

amongst government and industry for the continued expansion of shrimp aquaculture, the report noted.

 

Sardines and fish account for a high proportion of the volume of production, but a relatively small proportion of the value of production. In contrast, the wild and aquaculture shrimp and crustacean sectors are relatively smaller in terms of volume but are much higher in terms of value.

 

Of the total catch in 2004, 77 percent  was directed to human consumption and 23 percent  for fish meal.

 

Mexico has always been a net seafood exporter and the fish trade balance in terms of export/import ratio was around 2:1 in 2003.

 

In the case of shrimp, the larger sizes are exported and the smaller shrimp remain for the domestic market for which the capita consumption was 0.66 kg in 2002.

 

However, only a small fraction of the Mexican population can afford to eat shrimp on a regular basis. Instead, the most consumed products are canned tuna, canned sardines, fresh carp, and fresh tilapia, having these the lowest prices in the market.

 

Domestic fish products consumption in Mexico was 12.4 kg aperson a year in 2004, down from 15.8 kg a person a year in 19932.

 

Aquaculture Production is twice as common in the north and south Mexican areas in the Pacific than the Caribbean areas.

 

For the full report, please click here