Austerity will cost government in corn price crisis: CNA

Juan Cortina Gallardo, president of the National Agricultural Council (CNA) affirmed “we are already in crisis” in the case of corn where the marketing schemes disappeared and whose problem is not only in Sinaloa, but will spread to other states, without Mexico achieves self-sufficiency in grain production.

We have always been very clear that the budgetary changes that took place in the Ministry of Agriculture, where all the support that existed for commercial agriculture was removed, were going to end up causing serious problems”, affirmed the president of the CNA in the framework of the presentation from the book Our Field. The National Agricultural Council and the Agrifood Evolution of Mexico.

He recalled that, in the first four years of the present administration, commodity prices were high for various reasons, including lower production or the impact of the war in Ukraine, which “greatly affected the grain market, therefore , all the support that existed, specifically the coverage to set prices, disappeared and right now what is happening was inevitable”.

In this sense, he affirmed that we are entering a scenario of low prices, and where the appreciation of the Mexican peso is hitting farmers, which implies losing almost 1,000 pesos per ton.

With this double effect with the fall in prices and the exchange rate, explained Cortina Gallardo, it is estimated that the payment of the guarantee prices will cost the State close to 20,000 million pesos, when the problem could be solved with 2,000 million pesos, if the contract farming programs and coverage have been maintained.

Regarding solutions, he expressed, “I have always been in favor of having more contract farming in the country, by having contract farming, you can negotiate the prices at which they are going to be compared with some government support; then, we would not have the problems that we are having today”.

It should be remembered that the Sinaloa government announced that, as of this Monday, May 15, it began with the purchase of 500,000 tons of corn to withdraw it from the market, as a measure to try to improve the market price. To which is added the purchase of one million tons by Segalmex from producers of up to 10 hectares.

This same federal agency will acquire an additional 300,000 tons for distribution in Diconsa stores, with which a total of 1 million 800,000 tons will be withdrawn to motivate large buyers to pay a good price for the remaining 3.5 million tons that are missing. to be placed from the autumn-winter harvest.

Cortina Gallardo assured that “producers like the government thought that the party was going to continue,” and now they are facing a crisis. “We as CNA are working on a 10-year future planning, where we want to have the sector, what we can do and how we can continue taking advantage of it and in that sense what is the public policy to be able to achieve it.”

Segob will listen to producers

Meanwhile, yesterday it was reported that after suspending a meeting scheduled last week, this Friday the Secretary of the Interior Adán Augusto López will receive representatives of corn and wheat producers from Sinaloa at 10 in the morning in Mexico City, who fight to extend the coverage of the guaranteed price program.

The foregoing, after they decided to pause the protests that they carried out over the weekend at Pemex plants located in Culiacán, Los Mochis and Topolobampo. Regarding the meeting, Baltazar Valdez Armentia, president of Campesinos Unidos del Estado de Sinaloa, said that “we want a solution to come out because if there isn’t one, our attitude will continue to change and we will further radicalize our way of protesting.”

In an interview on Radio Formula, the farmer commented that the guaranteed price program announced by the Sinaloa state government in conjunction with Segalmex, in order to withdraw 1.8 million tons of corn from the market to boost the price, “does not convince us it’s going to work.”

pilar.martinez@eleconomista.mx