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By KELIN DILLON

According to a new release from the Mexican Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader), the Mexican government and Chinese Embassy in Mexico have agreed to collaborate on experimental sustainable sugarcane farming in the Mexican states of Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Campeche.

The newly-announced collaboration comes as a byproduct of a meeting between the Agriculture Working Group and the Mexico-China Permanent Binational Commission in early 2024.

The agreement, signed between Sader Secretary Víctor Villalobos and Chinese Ambassador to Mexico Zhang Run, delegates between 40,000 to 50,000 hectares of land – with the goal of expanding to 200,000 hectares in the long term – to test sustainable farming techniques and technological innovations for sugarcane crops.

“With this collaborative agreement, we aim to offer machinery services with a similar operation to that provided by mobility platforms, to facilitate farmers’ access to mechanization,” said the Sader in a statement.

The initial implementation will include 33 machinery packages, each of which features a tractor, combine harvester and a drone.

“Ambassador Zhang Run indicated that his government plans to expand investment in agriculture in Mexico and the region, to add to food security under sustainable food systems that are resilient to the onslaught of climate change,” added the Sader statement.

The news comes as Mexico faces one of its lowest expected sugarcane harvests, and subsequently reduced sugar production, in the past decade due to an extended drought across the country.