DYNAMICS OF SUGAR CANE PRODUCTION IN MÉXICO: 2000-2011

Abstract

Factors that determine the dynamics of sugar cane production in México were identified, taking into account the issue of whether sugar cane zones have presented significant changes in climate, field or factory between the periods of 2000-2005 and 2006-2011. How much of the production growth is due to the surface cultivated, and how much is due to the field yield, is defined. A typology of sugar factories is proposed in function of the productive growth of the sugar cane areas associated to each of the 54 factories. The results show that the growth in the sugar cane production in México is based on increasing the surface cultivated as consequence of the attractive prices that the crop presented between 2006 and 2011. However, this extensive growth was accompanied, for 82 % of the sugar cane areas, by a fall in the field yields. The cycle of low prices since the 2012-2013 harvest will reduce the production considerably and will endanger the supply to sugar factories in the country. Within this framework, the promotion and modernization of irrigation, the renovation of plantations, and the more efficient use of inputs should be fostered in sugar cane areas.