Agricultural and Economic Importance of the Main Fruits and Vegetables Produced in Mexico

Mexico is one of the five countries with the highest biodiversity, additionally there are climatic conditions for the growth of various products including those of the horticultural sector. The aim of this study was to analyze the available public information about the importance of this sector in Mexico, the highlights are the following facts: In 2014 the main fruits and vegetables in terms of harvested area were orange, mango, lemon, avocado and banana, as well as chili pepper, potato, tomato, onion and tomatillo with respectively 321.68, 175.77, 154.80, 153.77 and 74.58, as well as with 143.47, 61.41, 50.95, 47.43 and 44.24 thousands ha, while orange, lemon, banana, avocado, mango and papaya, as well as tomato, chili pepper, potato, onion, watermelon and nopalito were the most important fruits and vegetables by annual production volume, with 4.53, 2.19, 2.15, 1.52, 1.45 and 0.84, respectively, as well as with 2.87, 2.73, 1.76, 1.36, 0.94 and 0.82 millions t. In contrast, considering the annual production value, the most important fruits and vegetables were avocado, lemon, orange, banana, strawberry, blackberry and mango, as well as chili pepper, tomato, potato, asparagus and onion, with 1.56, 0.68, 0.51, 0.47, 0.41, 0.38 and 0.36, respectively, as well as with 1.35, 1.18, 0.90, 0.44 and 0.43 billions of USD. However, in relation to exports, avocado, lemon, mango and papaya, as well as tomato, chili pepper, cucumber, onion and asparagus were the most exported fruits and vegetables, with 512.13, 453, 273 and 115 respectively, as well as with 1 500, 900, 497, 380 and 120 thousands t. While, avocado, lemon, pecan walnut, mango, banana and orange, as well as tomato, broccoli, chili pepper, onion, asparagus, and lettuce, with 1 269, 286, 259, 230, 150 and 8 respectively, as well as, with 1 158.3, 350.2, 287.9, 196.9, 144.2, and 133.6 millions of USD, were the most important fruits and vegetables by annual exports value. In conclusion, the Mexican horticultural sector is very important, but the order of importance of each fruit and vegetable varies according to the indicator. Orange stood out for harvested area and production volume, while chili pepper was highlighted by harvested area and production value. However, avocado resulted the most important fruit in terms of value of production and exports (volume and value), while tomato was the most important vegetable in terms of annual production volume and exports (volume and value).