Transforming Southeast Mexico: Mayan Train and Interoceanic Corridor Drive Economic Growth

Chetumal city is the venue for the International Workshop of the Federation of Technified Rainfed Agricultural Producers of Mexico. The event has drawn representatives from approximately 600 producers across Tabasco, Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo states. The Federation's president, Martín Leonardo Góngora Castillo, stated that the goal is to enhance food production in Southeast Mexico.

The aim is to encourage the region to produce its own food, reducing reliance on imports from other states. This is in response to the growing local demand for food. Castillo pointed out that Quintana Roo and the surrounding region have three key assets: water, land that can be reclaimed and made productive, and a local population with a strong agricultural inclination.

The region is known for producing a variety of crops, including mango, pineapple, papaya, mamey, coffee, cacao, and sugarcane. Castillo believes that the development of this agroindustry will augment the food supply and necessitate the promotion of a dairy basin in the south-southeast.

The Mayan Train and the Interoceanic Corridor projects are expected to stimulate the region's economy, thus increasing the demand for food. Castillo emphasized the need for the region to prepare for this by leveraging technology, innovation, technical assistance, and training.

The south-southeast region, with 6.2 million hectares of agricultural land, has the potential to increase its productivity. However, Castillo clarified that this should not lead to deforestation, but rather the utilization of currently unused land.

The region, which encompasses seven states, is home to 10.7 million people in rural areas. Of these, 2.1 million are farmers, 279 thousand are livestock farmers, and 86,600 are fishermen. The region produces 80.4 million tons of crops, accounting for 25 percent of the national volume.

Currently, the main agricultural production areas in Mexico are the Gulf of Mexico's tropics, the Highlands of Chiapas, the irrigated lands of the north and northwest, the Bajío region in central Mexico, and finally, the southeast region.