Characteristics of Mexican agriculture

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Mexico is considered a peasant country, and its inhabitants, one way or another, are tied to the land.

Overall organization

Agriculture in Mexico is organized in such a way that most of the land belongs to landowners who own latifundia. Peasants are deprived of land, they have to rent it from landlords and work as farm laborers.

President Cárdenas introduced a land reform that reduced some latifundia. Nevertheless, a significant part of the best land remains concentrated in them.

Peasants are in severe poverty, which forces them to unite in unions that contribute to the expansion of the agrarian movement. Peasants make up two-thirds of the entire population of the country, but their incomes are at a very low level. This is explained by the fact that Mexico depends on foreign capital, on American exports. Therefore, food has to be imported.

Social composition

In the composition of the Mexican peasantry, a significant stratum is made up of farm laborers called braceros. They perform seasonal agricultural work. Over the years, their number has only grown. Severe poverty is pushing peasants to go to work in the United States, where they willy-nilly endure the most severe conditions.

There are two types of villages in Mexican agriculture:

• independent villages - ejido;
• villages in the estates of landlords - haciendas.

Feudal relations still reign in haciendas: there are managers, laborers, shepherds, workers, police, teacher, priest, servants.

Free communities of peasants are built differently, according to the principle of tribal unions. The peasants in them jointly own the lands.

The rural population of Mexico is divided into:

• poor people who make up the bulk;
• we althy individuals.

The latter include shopkeepers, artisans, intellectuals.

Structure

The main specialization of Mexican agriculture is crop production.

Traditional crop is corn. The economy of the country is built on its cultivation. Up to 3 million hectares of land are sown with maize every year. The main part goes to food for people, a small part goes to feed livestock, make alcohol and get seeds.

Besides corn, the cultivation of beans is popular. Both beans and corn are mainly grown by small peasant farms. The Spaniards introduced wheat and rice to Mexican agriculture. Barley is sown in some areas. An important role in the economy is played by coffee, which is in second place in the list of Mexican exports.

Mexican agriculture also produces industrial crops:

• cotton;
• heneken - a type of agave walkingfor fiber production;
• magey is another type of agave from which an alcoholic drink is obtained.

Agave is also used in food, in the construction of huts, in the preparation of medicines. Cane, pineapples and bananas, tobacco are grown in the tropics. Peasants grow peppers, tomatoes and other garden vegetables.

The livestock sector in agriculture is not so well developed. In Mexico, cattle breeding is represented, which came from the Spaniards. Before the arrival of Europeans, the local population raised dogs and turkeys.

Currently bred in Mexico:

• cattle;
• goats;
• sheep.

The milk of goats and sheep is used to make cheese. Developed dairy farming. Thus, crop production and animal husbandry are the main branches of agriculture in Mexico.

Features of agriculture

The level of agriculture in the country is extremely low. Human labor is cheap, the semi-serf system of relations has been preserved.

As for agricultural tools, it must be said that in many Mexican areas there is not even an ordinary plow. The land is cultivated with a digger and a hoe. The people practically do not know perfect agricultural machines.

Among the tools of labor, the machete is a popular multifunctional knife. It is used in many fields of activity.

Handicraft production is actively developing in agriculture. They are divided into three types:

1. Making items for your own life. Producedishes, baskets, utensils.
2. Production of things for sale in cities and for tourists. Among them there are items made with real craftsmanship.
3. Furnishing products for sale in nearby markets. Each state has its own industry for the production of certain things.

If we briefly characterize the agriculture of Mexico, it is worth mentioning its low agrotechnical level and low profitability. The reasons are largely unfavorable climatic conditions and low technical equipment of small farms. The arrival of Europeans in Mexico brought its advantages to agriculture, including plow farming. However, the introduction of modern technology into the economy is proceeding at a very slow pace.