The vast majority of Mexican fresh fruit and vegetable exports are to the United States.
Last season Mexico exported $7.5 billion of vegetables and $7.4 billion of fruit, with 96 percent and 84 percent going to the U.S., respectively.
For vegetables, tomatoes were big leader at about $2.1 billion with most of the exports going to the U.S., with bell peppers at around $600 million, followed by other peppers and cucumbers.
Avocados were the most exported fruit at about $1.9 billion followed by walnuts at a little below $600 million, then limes.
This information was documented in a webinar hosted by Veggies From Mexico to show Mexican exports have grown in the past decade, with the focus on tomatoes.
“In 2002, Mexico was exporting $360 million in tomatoes and now it is way above $2.1 billion,” Georgius Gotsis, CEO of Veggies From Mexico said.
The growth can be accredited to the creation of what was NAFTA at the time and also improving technology specifically in greenhouses and shade houses.
The Mexican state Sinaloa has about 19,768 acres of protected agriculture and is one of the most important production regions, with about 10 percent of Mexico’s total produce production coming from the area.
“During the 2019-20 season, almost 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of tomatoes were grown in Sinaloa’s protected agriculture,” Gotsis said.
Tomato seedling production starts in August, moving to field and greenhouse seeding in September and harvesting beginning in December and finishing by May.