After road blockades carried out by corn producers in different entities of the country, President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo announced an agreement between the Federation and the state governments to support more than 90 thousand farmers from the Bajío with an incentive of 950 pesos per ton of grain, in addition to the creation of a new Mexican System of Market Management and Marketing of Corn, which seeks to provide certainty to the price and sale of the most important crop in the country.
In morning conference, Sheinbaum assured that the support will be delivered directly and without intermediaries, remembering that in past administrations, rural resources were concentrated in the leadership of peasant organizations.
“Before the transformation, before President López Obrador arrived, there were many organizations in the field that received billions of pesos. It was never known if they reached the producer or not, because in the organizations the leadership kept many of the resources. That’s not coming back,” Sheinbaum stated.
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The President stressed that her government’s objective is to strengthen small producers and move towards food self-sufficiency, particularly in the case of corn, which is considered a strategic crop for the country.
For his part, the Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, Julio Berdegué Sacristán, explained that the agreement reached will benefit producers of up to 20 hectares.who represent between 96 and 98% of the farmers of Bajío. In total, the production of 1 million 400 thousand tons of corn will be supported, with a limit of 200 tons per producer.
“We will add resources between the state governments and the Federation to provide support of 950 pesos per ton of corn. This is the agreement for the Bajío producers,” he explained.
Berdegué highlighted that one of the most relevant points of the agreement is the presidential instruction to create the Mexican System of Market Management and Marketing of Corn, a structural policy that seeks to end the uncertainty that farmers face by not knowing the sales prices at the time of harvest.
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The new system will include three main axes:
- Define reference prices for corn.
- Promote direct marketing agreements between producers, industry and mills, reducing the participation of intermediaries.
- Establish clear rules with legal support, currently in the process of analysis.
“We cannot continue in the country with a product as fundamental as corn in a situation of uncertainty. The President has instructed us to create this system so that there are fair prices, direct agreements and transparency in marketing,” said the head of Agriculture.
Road release and local commitments
The official also reported that local leaders agreed release the road blockades that were maintained in several areas of the Bajío, after the understanding with the federal government.
Likewise, the creation of dialogue tables between producers, state governments and buyers was established, with the aim of guaranteeing fair purchasing conditions and prioritizing the acquisition of national crops.
The secretary added that the industries in the sector committed to increasing the base purchase prices of corn, after previous negotiations with the Federation.
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