Mexico: Tamaulipas is the country's top onion producer

The production of onions in Tamaulipas has grown significantly, as the state produced more than 116,396 tons that are destined to the national and international markets, which makes Tamaulipas the country's top onion producer, stated the Delegate of SAGARPA (Mexican Agricultural Office), Eduardo Mansilla Gomez.

Mansilla Gomez said that this had contributed to increase the national production, and currently Mexico is the 14th biggest onion producer worldwide with an annual production of 1,270,000 tons.

"As a result, state producers see onion production as an alternative, as it is a product that maintains a good price in the market and has a great demand at the national and international levels," he said.

The federal official also said that the municipalities of Llera, Gonzalez, Aldama, Altamira, Padilla, Soto La Marina and Tula, were the main onion producers.

"The high quality standards and the packing centers that add value to the onions, allow us to supply the national market and to export this vegetable mainly to the United States and to Canada". The delegate of SAGARPA, said that during the autumn-winter 2016-2017 agricultural cycle, they harvested 3,564 hectares of purple onion,1,749 hectares of yellow onions (also known as sweet onions) and 1,398 hectares of white onions. "The production obtained in the present agricultural cycle, which concluded last April, exceeded 116,396 tons and had a commercial value that amounted to 426,100,000 pesos ((US 23 million)."

In Tamaulipas, the National Institute of Agricultural and Livestock Forestry Research (INIFAP) recommends the planting of the Fall-Winter cycle, as this period presents the best conditions for this production. Among other factors, the onion requires to be planted at an altitude that oscillates between 0 and 2,800 meters above sea level. It also needs 350 to 600 millimeters of rain and a temperature between 15 and 22 degrees Celsius. The main market for this onion is Texas and East USA, some is exported to Canada thru brokers among the Rio Grande Valley in SE Texas.For more information on how can you expand your Agribusiness from or to Latin America, ask FGH´s International Agribusiness, Latin America's leading Agribusiness Consulting firm.