Inside Mexico's Surprisingly Successful Sugarcane Industry
Mexico's sugarcane industry thrives through remarkable cooperation between growers, millers, and industrialists, boosting yields and contributing to food sovereignty. Their success includes social security for all workers and innovation in producing sugar, biofuels, and rum.
If you ever find yourself in the countryside of Mexico, dodging potholes the size of small swimming pools and being overtaken by pickup trucks with suspiciously overloaded beds, you’ll likely notice vast fields of sugarcane swaying in the breeze. At first glance, it’s just another crop. But dig a little deeper (metaphorically, of course, unless you want to ruin your shoes), and you’ll discover that this humble tropical grass is not only keeping Mexico’s agricultural sector alive but also teaching the rest of the country a thing or two about unity, innovation, and progress.
Yes, sugarcane is more than just a plant; it’s a metaphorical beacon of hope. The Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, Julio Berdegué Sacristán, seems to think so too. According to him, the sugarcane sector embodies everything Mexico needs to strengthen its countryside. And he’s not wrong.
