Mexico Says Yes to Commercial Biotech Soybeans

February 20, 2013
Economic Development  Investment & Innovation 

In June 2012, permits for biotech soybeans were granted to seven Mexican states covering 253,500 hectares in Campeche, Quintana Roo, Yucatan, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Chiapas.

Recent approval of commercial soybean production…is important to a country that significantly relies on oilseed imports.

Biotech soybeans have been planted in pilot stages in Mexico since 1995, and the recent approval of commercial soybean production – both on existing pilot plots and new commercial farmland – is important to a country that significantly relies on oilseed imports to meet consumer demand for vegetable oil and other products. About 90 percent of soybeans consumed in Mexico are imported and the country currently plants an average of 165,000 hectares of soybeans per year. Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, has pledged to increase agricultural productivity to decrease food costs and poverty rates. The approval of biotech soybeans means a greater potential for increased food production, which may help President Peña Nieto and the country achieve this goal.