DOI: https://doi.org/10.15368/theses.2014.55
Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1208
Date of Award
6-2014
Degree Name
MS in Agribusiness
Department/Program
Agribusiness
Advisor
James Ahern
Abstract
An American company that supplies premium quality hybrid vegetable seed to commercial growers in the southern part of the US, Mexico, and Central America sought an assessment of the market potential in the Northwest region of Mexico by identifying land area and production concentrations of vegetables by location, crop, and cultivation method, whether open-field, greenhouse, or shade house.
Data on the cultivated area of four states in the Northwest region of Mexico was collected for 12 crops of interest for the period of 2003-2012 from secondary sources. Data was entered into a statistical software program to complete frequency distribution charts of each state by crop and cultivation method to determine crop concentrations. Trend data of cultivated area was also analyzed to see changes in cultivation methods over a 10 year period and estimates were made by for NW Mexico through 2017.
An analysis of vegetable production in Northwest region of Mexico showed open-field cultivated area was heavily location specific with near monocultures present, especially in the state of Sinaloa. Two-thirds of the crops had a substantial portion of their cultivated area (35-80%) occurring in one place, with bell pepper, onion (green), spinach, and cucumber having a dominant percentage (80-100%) of their cultivation occurring only in Sinaloa. Although it made up a small percentage of overall cultivated area, the majority of protected culture cultivation was also located in Sinaloa, and was shown to have grown rapidly since being introduced or first appearing in government data sources in 2003. With open-field cultivation giving way to more technologically advanced cultivated methods of protected culture, and with the majority of protected culture and open-field export farming taking place in Sinaloa, further input suppliers’ marketing efforts should be concentrated there.