Mexico: great potential of the organic sector
If one considers that Mexico exports USD 600 million annually and that only in the European Union this market amounts to USD 25 billion, the growth potential of the organic sector is considered quite favorable.
According to official data, in the last two decades the growth of the Mexican organic sector has been exponential, having gone from a surface of 23 thousand hectares in 1996 to 512 thousand hectares in 2015. In addition, there are 169.570 producers and more than 245.000 people who live off the production of organic food.
Given the importance of the organic sector for the Mexican agricultural sector, a national meeting of producers, processors, marketers and consumers of organic products was convened for the 21 in June in Mexico City, in order to know the current situation of production and consumption of organic products in Mexico, in addition to exchanging experiences among the different actors.
As the main consuming countries of Mexican organic foods are: United States, Canada, Japan and the European Union, the meeting will also analyze the need to finalize equivalence agreements with the main organic production programs in the international arena, such as the National Organic Program (NOP) of the United States, the Organic Program of the European Union (EU), the Canadian Organic Program (COR) of Canada and the Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS) of Japan.
Having this recognition will allow what is known as organic in Mexico to be equivalent to the products that are recognized as such in other countries, which will facilitate the opening of international markets to Mexican producers.
The agricultural area certified as organic in Chile reached the 19.932 hectares in 2015, to which must be added the 81.054 certified hectares for wild collection, so that the total value obtained is 100.986 hectares. When comparing these figures with those of 2014, it is seen that there was a growth of 27%.
After the wild harvesting, the crops that cover the largest area are: the wine grape (3.735 hectares), the minor fruit trees (3.600 hectares) and the major fruit trees (2.455 hectares).
The evolution of organic products in the last five years has shown a growth of 37%, where organic apples have been the main driver of this increase.
Regarding the commercial exchange of organic products with Mexico, 2015 from Chile exported USD 369.824, where the main product was frozen blueberries, with 25% of the total, followed by red wines and apples. On the other hand, in the same year, USD 216.162 was imported from Mexico, in only 4 products, with avocados being the main imported product, with 58% of the total, followed by strawberries, raspberries and roasted coffee.
Source: Agrimundo - Inforural
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