How much farmland does Mexico have?

Answer 1

Although nearly half of Mexico's total land area is officially classified as agricultural, only 12 percent of the total area is cultivated. In the early 1990s, only some 24 million hectares of a possible 32 million hectares were under cultivation.

Extensive irrigation projects carried out in the 1940s and 1950s greatly expanded Mexico's cropland, especially in the north. The government created areas of intensive irrigated agriculture by constructing storage dams across the valleys of the Río Bravo del Norte (Rio Grande) and the rivers flowing down from the Sierra Madre Occidental, by controlling the lower Río Colorado (Colorado River), and by tapping subterranean aquifers.

These water-control projects allowed Mexico to expand rapidly its total land area under cultivation. Between 1950 and 1965, the total area of irrigated land in Mexico more than doubled, from 1.5 million hectares to 3.5 million hectares. Despite a slowdown in the development of irrigated land after 1965, the total irrigated area had expanded to more than 6 million hectares by 1987. In the early 1990s, 80 percent of Mexico's cultivated land required regular irrigation. Because of the high cost of irrigation, however, the government has emphasized expanding production on existing farmland rather than expanding the area under irrigation.

Agricultural practices in Mexico range from traditional techniques, such as the slash-and-burn cultivation of indigenous plants for family subsistence, to the use of advanced technology and marketing expertise in large-scale, capital-intensive export agriculture. Government extension programs have fostered the wider use of machinery, fertilizers, and soil conservation techniques. Although corn is grown on almost half of Mexico's cropland, the country became a net importer of grain during the 1970s.

Answer 2

Mexico is widely believed to be an arid country, but this is not the case. It has a vast territory, where almost 12% is used for agriculture. This means 232,761 square kilometers (89,869 sq mi), which are almost the size of the whole United Kingdom, are used to grow food and cash crops. Main crops include corn (ranked 4th worldwide), sorghum (4th), and beans (5th).

Answer 3

Mexico is widely believed to be an arid country, but this is not the case. It has a vast territory, where almost 12% is used for agriculture. This means 232,761 square kilometers (89,869 sq mi), which are almost the size of the whole United Kingdom, are used to grow food and cash crops.

Farmland quality varies depending on three factors: local topography, crop and economic development. There are large plantations and crops in the northern states of Mexico, such as the Guadalupe Valley in Baja California, one of the largest wine countries in Mexico. On the other hand, states such as Chiapas and Oaxaca have extensive mountain coffee plantations along the Sierra Madre mountain ranges.

As for development, there are large-scale commercial farms as well as traditional, peasant agriculture-driven ejidos(communal farms) in Mexico.

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Answer 4

All throughout Mexico. Mexico is widely believed to be an arid country, but this is not the case. It has a vast territory, where almost 12% is used for agriculture. This means 232,761 square kilometers (89,869 sq mi), which are almost the size of the whole United Kingdom, are used to grow food and cash crops.

Main crops include corn (ranked 4th worldwide), sorghum (4th), and beans (5th).

Most cereal crops are for internal consumption, but demand is so extensive that corn and wheat are imported from the United States.

Mexico is also a major producer and exporter of fruits, vegetables and other agricultural products, being among the top 10 producers of avocado, cacao, coffee, lemon, mango, orange, tomato, sugarcane, honey and banana. Most fruit grown in Mexico is exported to the United States, Europe and Japan markets during the winter season.

Answer 5

Mexico is widely believed to be an arid country, but this is not the case. It has a vast territory, where almost 12% is used for agriculture. This means 232,761 square kilometers (89,869 sq mi), which are almost the size of the whole United Kingdom, are used to grow food and cash crops.

Answer 6

Mexico is widely believed to be an arid country, but this is not the case. It has a vast territory, where almost 12% is used for agriculture. This means 232,761 square kilometers (89,869 sq mi), which are almost the size of the whole United Kingdom, are used to grow food and cash crops.

Farmland quality varies depending on three factors: local topography, crop and economic development. There are large plantations and crops in the northern states of Mexico, such as the Guadalupe Valley in Baja California, one of the largest wine countries in Mexico. On the other hand, states such as Chiapas and Oaxaca have extensive mountain coffee plantations along the Sierra Madre mountain ranges.

As for development, there are large-scale commercial farms as well as traditional, peasant agriculture-driven ejidos (communal farms) in Mexico.

Answer 7

Flatlands with good soil properties that can be used for agriculture by means of natural or artificial irrigation count for 12% of the total Mexican land area, which would be some 91,393 square miles, or roughly the same area of Minnesota and Connecticut put together. On a more international scale, this area equates that of the whole United Kingdom.

Major farming regions in Mexico are found along coastal areas in both the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, as well as on the northern and central parts of the Mexican Central Plateau. The following Mexican states are the most productive in terms of agricultural output:

• Michoacan (Southern Pacific): 10.00% of total output (some USD 2.9 billion)
• Sinaloa (Northern Pacific): 8.51%
• Jalisco (Western Pacific): 7.76%
• Veracruz (Gulf of Mexico): 7.56%
• Sonora (Gulf of California): 6.86%
• Chihuahua (Northern Mexican Plateau): 6.28%
• State of Mexico (Central Mexican Plateau): 4.66%
• Guanajuato (Central Mexican Plateau): 4.57%
• Chiapas (Southern Pacific): 4.37%
• Tamaulipas (Gulf of Mexico): 3.47%

These states add 60.57% of Mexico's total agricultural output (~ USD 29.3 billion for 2013).

Answer 8

Mexico is widely believed to be an arid country, but this is not the case. It has a vast territory, where almost 12% is used for agriculture. This means 232,761 square kilometers (89,869 sq mi), which are almost the size of the whole United Kingdom, are used to grow food and cash crops. Then another 16% of Mexico's territory (315,608 sq km/121,857 sq mi or a bit bigger than Poland or New Mexico) is considered as man-made or natural pastures, where cattle of several species is raised including bovine, caprine, porcine and poultry.

Answer 9

12% of the Mexican territory (some 91,400 sq mi) is suitable and used for farming.