Mexico's secretary of agriculture has emphasized the need for the country's farmers to unite together and work to diversify their markets, amid bilateral relation issues with the U.S. 

José Calzada Rovirosa called for farmers to form a united bloc, leave their comfort zone and wake up to the interests of international markets.

U.S. President Donald Trump has been highly critical of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), describing it as “the worst trade deal maybe ever”, and has pledged to either renegotiate or withdraw from the agreement.

In late January, Trump also announced plans to implement a 20% import tax on Mexican goods, after the southern neighbor’s president Enrique Peña Nieto declined to cave in to the new leader’s demands to pay for a border wall.

The comments have worried many in the Mexican produce industry, who ship a large proportion of their fruit and vegetables to the U.S.

"What Mexican needs today is not only to produce better, more and with greater value, but also to diversify its markets," Calzada said.

He said that currently around 78% of all Mexican agri-food exports were sent to the U.S., and stated that this must change.

We must diversify, we will go back to Russia, they want to buy Mexican beef and pork, and we will intensify our relations with the European Union, which is interested in our honey, nut, meat and tropical fruits," he said.

Calzada also explained Mexico was in a position of strength which it had to defend, highlighting the progress of farmers over the last two decades to turn the country into a leading producer.

Last year around US$29 billion of agri-food products were exported, with almost US$25 billion sold to the U.S. However, Calzada said that US$20 billion worth of food products had been bought from the U.S.

Photo: www.shutterstock.com

www.freshfruitportal.com