Interest in high tech horticulture grows in Mexico
21 November 2011
A growing number of Mexican states are showing interest in high tech greenhouses for export vegetables and flowers. The province of Estado de Mexico, which is situated around the capital Mexico City, encourage the production of flowers, while Nayarit aims for an increase of vegetable export.
The new initiatives are in addition to numerous other expansions of greenhouses in the provinces of Queretaro, Sinaloa and Coahuila. “The expansion goes really fast, ''said the Dutch advisor Jan Haagsma, who has been involved in the greenhouse in Mexico for a long time. “Investors suddenly realize that they can earn money with high tech horticulture.”
Estado de Mexico is the largest flower producer in the country, with about 39 percent of national production. Four-fifth of the flower export of Mexico comes from this state. According to the provincial Ministry of Agricultural Development (Sedagro) 5,592 acres of flowers makes as much money as 550,000 acres of corn.
Around Toluca, the capital of Estado de Mexico, thirty producers of fruits and vegetables will start, in addition to the 32 existing greenhouses. According to Mayor María Elena Barrera Tapia, all these growers will export. This is good news for the mayor, because the farms provide many jobs.
Investors from Jalisco are investing money in new greenhouses in the neighboring province of Nayarit. With European technology, dairy entrepreneurs Masayi Gonzalez Uyeda from Grupo Lechera in Guadalajara wants to build greenhouses for growing peppers, berries and soft fruit.
