Mexican lime producers in Michoacán state are uprooting their orchards and converting them to sugar cane following over production and citrus greening disease problems, website Cambiodemichoacan.com.mx reported.

Owners of more than 400 hectares of limes plan to convert their farms to producing more lucrative sugar cane in a state which currently has just 751 acres devoted to the later crop.

Mexican Lime Product System (Siprolimex) president Sergio Ramírez Castañeda, said he was in talks with sugarcane company representatives with the aim of attracting them to Michoacán.

"We must look for alternatives. China is the largest consumer of sugar cane and right now the state only has a small amount of sugar cane cultivation," he was reported as saying.

Ramírez Castañeda stated that 80% of Coahuayana municipality's 350 hectares of lime groves were contaminated and that farmers intended to switch to growing coconut palms.

Apatzingán municipality which has an annual production of 800,000 metric tons (MT) of limes was also considering switching its lime groves to sugar cane production.

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