In one of his last activities before the change of administration, the former Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development of Mexico, Víctor Villalobos Arámbula, gave his keynote address: “The impact of berries on the agri-food sector in Mexico”, a presentation given within the framework of the activities of the 14th International Congress of Aneberries.

On the occasion, he described them as "the pride of Mexico", stating that public policies that help strengthen the different aspects of the berry production chain have been a priority and have also allowed the opening of new markets, closing 2023 with an export value of USD 3.937 million, almost 5% above what was achieved the previous year.

The numbers

When asked about his statements, the former Secretary of Government commented that he described them as Mexico's pride because blackberries and strawberries ranked first in the world ranking, with sales equivalent to USD 777 million and USD 1.240 billion respectively, and raspberries ranked second internationally, with USD 1.343 billion. He explained that, in terms of production, blackberries reached first place worldwide with a volume of more than 238 thousand tons. For their part, strawberries and raspberries reached second place internationally with 641.552 tons and 190.413 tons in shipments respectively.

“More could have been done”

Regarding his work over the past six years, he is satisfied with what has been achieved, “although more could have been done.”

“The demand for food is a process that does not stop, it is progressive. The objective has always been to guarantee food security for Mexicans and then project ourselves as an agro-food power at a global level,” he says.

“This involved reviewing our capabilities. Reviewing the conditions in which the field was in order to effectively face this challenge, and we added an additional component, which is the sustainability of the sector, because it is not just about producing for the sake of producing, which is what agriculture has historically done,” he explains.

“In addition to this responsible way of managing natural resources, we tried to be inclusive with sectors of producers who did not always have the support of the State in the past. In short, we have based ourselves on three fundamental pillars: productivity, sustainability and inclusion.

• What achievements and progress have been made in these three areas?
• Well, at the end of the administration we can say that we have effectively managed to guarantee food security and in the international context we have climbed as a food producing country. Today we are recognized as the 11th food producer in the world. We have been increasing productivity year after year, to the point that in 2022 we managed to surpass 300 million tons of food and we will surpass it again in 2024. Only in 2023 did our production drop due to drought.

In this context, he says that Mexico has an agriculture that depends heavily on rainfall. “We have rainfed agriculture, but we have made progress and contributed to food security,” he points out.

This is a small part of an extensive interview with the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Mexico, Víctor Villalobos Arámbula, which will be published in the first edition of 2025 (March) of the Blue Magazine.