Alexia Villasenor
La Jornada Newspaper
Tuesday, December 23, 2025, p. 11
Next year will be one of “uncertainty” for the countryside, since imports of white corn, wheat, rice and sorghum are expected to grow in the 2025-2026 cycle, said Amadeo Hernández Barajas, leader of the Independent Peasant Central (CCI).
In 2026 “the probability that producers will do worse will increase when facing food security sustained in the international market due to the abandonment of national production,” he indicated in a message. Added to this will be climatic conditions, such as drought, which affect the volume of harvests, as well as revisions to the T-MEC, which influence the rules of origin and import costs.
He stressed that basic grain producers will not be sure of knowing if they will be paid for their corn, wheat and sorghum harvests due to the warning that the government does not have resources, even when the food is already stored.
The lack of appropriate public policies and credit coverage that allow the producer to improve the price when marketing the harvest are the main factors that negatively influence the field, he said.
The National Coordinator of the Permanent Agrarian Congress also stated that in 2026 the countryside will start with the lowest budget in a decade, since the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will have 75,836.5 million pesos, “which could further limit the ability to increase productivity and reduce dependence on imports.”
According to official figures, in 2024, white corn production fell annually by 12 percent, with 21 million 489 thousand 704 tons. The lower availability of water affected collections in Sinaloa, the main producing state, which saw a 50 percent reduction that year (3 million tons less).
The United States is the main country of origin that exports this grain to Mexico, with 206,021 tons (59 million dollars).
In the case of rice, in 2024 the harvest was 220 thousand tons, 20 percent less than in 2023 and 14 percent below the average of the last decade. To satisfy demand, Mexico imports 1,187,768 tons, worth 628 million dollars. The main country it buys from is the United States, with 952,434 tons.
For sorghum, production was 4.5 million tons in 2024, six percent less than in 2023. Mexico is the third producing country of this grain, but it turns to the United States to buy 36,754 tons.
